热休克蛋白(HSPs)基因家族在涡虫中的研究进展

热休克蛋白(HSPs)广泛存在于从细菌到人类的各种有机体中,在生物生命活动中具有重要生理功能,如作为分子伴侣参与细胞增殖和分化以及免疫应答等;同时某些HSPs表达水平的高低可作为衡量环境污染或者人类恶性肿瘤疗效和预后的重要指标.涡虫是扁形动物门的代表动物,因其在动物系统演化中的特殊地位和极强的再生能力而作为研究发育和再生的模式动物之一.概述了HSPs基因家族成员在涡虫抗逆和再生研究中的主要成果和最新进展,并对目前存在的问题及未来的发展方向进行了总结和展望.以期为揭示HSPs在高等动物中的作用机制提供参考.     

Crystal structure of an Hsp90-nucleotide-p23/Sba1 closed chaperone complex

Hsp90 (heat shock protein of 90 kDa) is a ubiquitous molecular chaperone responsible for the assembly and regulation of many eukaryotic signalling systems and is an emerging target for rational chemotherapy of many cancers. Although the structures of isolated domains of Hsp90 have been determined, the arrangement and ATP-dependent dynamics of these in the full Hsp90 dimer have been elusive and contentious. Here we present the crystal structure of full-length yeast Hsp90 in complex with an ATP analogue and the co-chaperone p23/Sba1. The structure reveals the complex architecture of the 'closed' state of the Hsp90 chaperone, the extensive interactions between domains and between protein chains, the detailed conformational changes in the amino-terminal domain that accompany ATP binding, and the structural basis for stabilization of the closed state by p23/Sba1. Contrary to expectations, the closed Hsp90 would not enclose its client proteins but provides a bipartite binding surface whose formation and disruption are coupled to the chaperone ATPase cycle.     

Trigger factor and DnaK cooperate in folding of newly synthesized proteins.

The role of molecular chaperones in assisting the folding of newly synthesized proteins in the cytosol is poorly understood. In Escherichia coli, GroEL assists folding of only a minority of proteins and the Hsp70 homologue DnaK is not essential for protein folding or cell viability at intermediate growth temperatures. The major protein associated with nascent polypeptides is ribosome-bound trigger factor, which displays chaperone and prolyl isomerase activities in vitro. Here we show that delta tig::kan mutants lacking trigger factor have no defects in growth or protein folding. However, combined delta tig::kan and delta dnaK mutations cause synthetic lethality. Depletion of DnaK in the delta tig::kan mutant results in massive aggregation of cytosolic proteins. In delta tig::kan cells, an increased amount of newly synthesized proteins associated transiently with DnaK. These findings show in vivo activity for a ribosome-associated chaperone, trigger factor, in general protein folding, and functional cooperation of this protein with a cytosolic Hsp70. Trigger factor and DnaK cooperate to promote proper folding of a variety of E. coli proteins, but neither is essential for folding and viability at intermediate growth temperatures.     

真核生物的热击反应及转录调控的研究现状

真核生物受热击及其他应激作用后能诱导产生ＨＳＰ。ＨＳＰ在生物体内起着重要的生理功能。研究热击反应有助于搞清植物基因表达调控的机理，这也是科学家们近几年来研究的热点。随着植物基因工程技术的完善和发展，这一研究进展很快。ＨＳＥ、ＨＳＦ和ＨＳＰ在热击基因转录和调控过程中起着非常重要的作用。     

Crystal structure of DegP (HtrA) reveals a new protease-chaperone machine

Molecular chaperones and proteases monitor the folded state of other proteins. In addition to recognizing non-native conformations, these quality control factors distinguish substrates that can be refolded from those that need to be degraded. To investigate the molecular basis of this process, we have solved the crystal structure of DegP (also known as HtrA), a widely conserved heat shock protein that combines refolding and proteolytic activities. The DegP hexamer is formed by staggered association of trimeric rings. The proteolytic sites are located in a central cavity that is only accessible laterally. The mobile side-walls are constructed by twelve PDZ domains, which mediate the opening and closing of the particle and probably the initial binding of substrate. The inner cavity is lined by several hydrophobic patches that may act as docking sites for unfolded polypeptides. In the chaperone conformation, the protease domain of DegP exists in an inactive state, in which substrate binding in addition to catalysis is abolished.     

A high-affinity conformation of Hsp90 confers tumour selectivity on Hsp90 inhibitors

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone that plays a key role in the conformational maturation of oncogenic signalling proteins, including HER-2/ErbB2, Akt, Raf-1, Bcr-Abl and mutated p53. Hsp90 inhibitors bind to Hsp90, and induce the proteasomal degradation of Hsp90 client proteins. Although Hsp90 is highly expressed in most cells, Hsp90 inhibitors selectively kill cancer cells compared to normal cells, and the Hsp90 inhibitor 17-allylaminogeldanamycin (17-AAG) is currently in phase I clinical trials. However, the molecular basis of the tumour selectivity of Hsp90 inhibitors is unknown. Here we report that Hsp90 derived from tumour cells has a 100-fold higher binding affinity for 17-AAG than does Hsp90 from normal cells. Tumour Hsp90 is present entirely in multi-chaperone complexes with high ATPase activity, whereas Hsp90 from normal tissues is in a latent, uncomplexed state. In vitro reconstitution of chaperone complexes with Hsp90 resulted in increased binding affinity to 17-AAG, and increased ATPase activity. These results suggest that tumour cells contain Hsp90 complexes in an activated, high-affinity conformation that facilitates malignant progression, and that may represent a unique target for cancer therapeutics.     

Hsp90 chaperones protein folding in vitro.

The heat-shock protein Hsp90 is the most abundant constitutively expressed stress protein in the cytosol of eukaryotic cells, where it participates in the maturation of other proteins, modulation of protein activity in the case of hormone-free steroid receptors, and intracellular transport of some newly synthesized kinases. A feature of all these processes could be their dependence on the formation of protein structure. If Hsp90 is a molecular chaperone involved in maintaining a certain subset of cellular proteins in an inactive form, it should also be able to recognize and bind non-native proteins, thereby influencing their folding to the native state. Here we investigate whether Hsp90 can influence protein folding in vitro and show that Hsp90 suppresses the formation of protein aggregates by binding to the target proteins at a stoichiometry of one Hsp90 dimer to one or two substrate molecule(s). Furthermore, the yield of correctly folded and functional protein is increased significantly. The action of Hsp90 does not depend on the presence of nucleoside triphosphates, so it may be that Hsp90 uses a novel molecular mechanism to assist protein folding in vivo.     

黑腹果蝇热激蛋白基因家族的生物信息学分析

热激蛋白是细胞或生物体受到热激后新合成的一类遗传上高度保守的蛋白,在生物体中普遍存在,在细胞生长、发育、分化、基因转录等功能方面发挥重要的作用.本研究利用生物信息学方法首次对黑腹果蝇(Drosophila melanogaster)全部热激蛋白进行分析.结果表明,黑腹果蝇热激蛋白共有HSPC(HSP90)、HSPA(H...     

NAD synthase NMNAT acts as a chaperone to protect against neurodegeneration

Neurodegeneration can be triggered by genetic or environmental factors. Although the precise cause is often unknown, many neurodegenerative diseases share common features such as protein aggregation and age dependence. Recent studies in Drosophila have uncovered protective effects of NAD synthase nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (NMNAT) against activity-induced neurodegeneration and injury-induced axonal degeneration. Here we show that NMNAT overexpression can also protect against spinocerebellar ataxia 1 (SCA1)-induced neurodegeneration, suggesting a general neuroprotective function of NMNAT. It protects against neurodegeneration partly through a proteasome-mediated pathway in a manner similar to heat-shock protein 70 (Hsp70). NMNAT displays chaperone function both in biochemical assays and cultured cells, and it shares significant structural similarity with known chaperones. Furthermore, it is upregulated in the brain upon overexpression of poly-glutamine expanded protein and recruited with the chaperone Hsp70 into protein aggregates. Our results implicate NMNAT as a stress-response protein that acts as a chaperone for neuronal maintenance and protection. Our studies provide an entry point for understanding how normal neurons maintain activity, and offer clues for the common mechanisms underlying different neurodegenerative conditions.     

Global unfolding of a substrate protein by the Hsp100 chaperone ClpA.

The bacterial protein CIpA, a member of the Hsp100 chaperone family, forms hexameric rings that bind to the free ends of the double-ring serine protease ClpP. ClpA directs the ATP-dependent degradation of substrate proteins bearing specific sequences, much as the 19S ATPase 'cap' of eukaryotic proteasomes functions in the degradation of ubiquitinated proteins. In isolation, ClpA and its relative ClpX can mediate the disassembly of oligomeric proteins; another similar eukaryotic protein, Hsp104, can dissociate low-order aggregates. ClpA has been proposed to destabilize protein structure, allowing passage of proteolysis substrates through a central channel into the ClpP proteolytic cylinder. Here we test the action of ClpA on a stable monomeric protein, the green fluorescent protein GFP, onto which has been added an 11-amino-acid carboxy-terminal recognition peptide, which is responsible for recruiting truncated proteins to ClpAP for degradation. Fluorescence studies both with and without a 'trap' version of the chaperonin GroEL, which binds non-native forms of GFP, and hydrogen-exchange experiments directly demonstrate that ClpA can unfold stable, native proteins in the presence of ATP.     

Maintenance of an unfolded polypeptide by a cognate chaperone in bacterial type III secretion.

Many bacterial pathogens use a type III protein secretion system to deliver virulence effector proteins directly into the host cell cytosol, where they modulate cellular processes. A requirement for the effective translocation of several such effector proteins is the binding of specific cytosolic chaperones, which typically interact with discrete domains in the virulence factors. We report here the crystal structure at 1.9 A resolution of the chaperone-binding domain of the Salmonella effector protein SptP with its cognate chaperone SicP. The structure reveals that this domain is maintained in an extended, unfolded conformation that is wound around three successive chaperone molecules. Short segments from two different SptP molecules are juxtaposed by the chaperones, where they dimerize across a hydrophobic interface. These results imply that the chaperones associated with the type III secretion system maintain their substrates in a secretion-competent state that is capable of engaging the secretion machinery to travel through the type III apparatus in an unfolded or partially folded manner.     

Evolutionary capacitance as a general feature of complex gene networks

An evolutionary capacitor buffers genotypic variation under normal conditions, thereby promoting the accumulation of hidden polymorphism. But it occasionally fails, thereby revealing this variation phenotypically. The principal example of an evolutionary capacitor is Hsp90, a molecular chaperone that targets an important set of signal transduction proteins. Experiments in Drosophila and Arabidopsis have demonstrated three key properties of Hsp90: (1) it suppresses phenotypic variation under normal conditions and releases this variation when functionally compromised; (2) its function is overwhelmed by environmental stress; and (3) it exerts pleiotropic effects on key developmental processes. But whether these properties necessarily make Hsp90 a significant and unique facilitator of adaptation is unclear. Here we use numerical simulations of complex gene networks, as well as genome-scale expression data from yeast single-gene deletion strains, to present a mechanism that extends the scope of evolutionary capacitance beyond the action of Hsp90 alone. We illustrate that most, and perhaps all, genes reveal phenotypic variation when functionally compromised, and that the availability of loss-of-function mutations accelerates adaptation to a new optimum phenotype. However, this effect does not require the mutations to be conditional on the environment. Thus, there might exist a large class of evolutionary capacitors whose effects on phenotypic variation complement the systemic, environment-induced effects of Hsp90.     

热休克蛋白的研究进展

在不利的环境中,各种有机体都有其共同对应的分子反应,即正常基因的表达抑制和一组特殊基因——热休克基因的激活和表达,导致热休克蛋白的大量产生,热休克蛋白主要作为分子伴侣而参与蛋白质的折叠、转运及组装等过程,能恢复或加速清除细胞内已变性的蛋白质而稳定细胞结构,细胞产生热耐受。随着对热休克蛋白研究的不断深入,在生物工程和医学等方面的应用前景十分广阔。     

低分子量热激蛋白在种子中的表达特征

选用了包括顽拗性和正常性种子在内的４种种子为实验材料，运用ＷｅｓｔｅｒｎＢｌｏｔ方法，检测了低分子量热激蛋白，发现被检的４种种子都含有低分子量热激蛋白．认为低分子量热激蛋白在种子中表达的起因是组织特异性，而不是脱水胁迫所至     

细胞凋亡过程中热休克蛋白的调节

热休克蛋白(heatshockproteins,HSPs)是一类进化上高度保守,广泛存在于自然界原核、真核细胞中的蛋白质。HSPs在正常细胞中呈基础性表达,维持细胞的基本形态和功能;它在应激环境下的细胞中,可参与细胞的损伤和修复,发挥应激保护作用。新近的研究发现,HSPs在细胞凋亡中发挥重要作用。