The permanently chaperone-active small heat shock protein Hsp17 from Caenorhabditis elegans exhibits topological separation of its N-terminal regions.

ABSTRACT: Small Heat shock proteins (sHsps) are a family of molecular chaperones that bind nonnative proteins in an ATP-independent manner. Caenorhabditis elegans encodes 16 different sHsps, among them Hsp17, which is evolutionarily distinct from other sHsps in the nematode. The structure and mechanism of Hsp17 and how these may differ from other sHsps remain unclear. Here, we find that Hsp17 has a distinct expression pattern, structural organization, and chaperone function. Consistent with its presence under nonstress conditions, and in contrast to many other sHsps, we determined that Hsp17 is a mono-disperse, permanently active chaperone in vitro, which interacts with hundreds of different C. elegans proteins under physiological conditions. Additionally, our cryo-EM structure of Hsp17 reveals that

SUBMITTER: Strauch A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9800568 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature