Structure, allosterics, interactions and function of Hsp70 Chaperones

sequence.jpg

 

Erik R.P. Zuiderweg, Ph.D.
Professor of  Biological Chemistry

zuiderwe@umich.edu

 

Link to Biological Chemistry  

 

chap_cycle.jpgHsp70 Chaperones
Hsp70 proteins mediate  trafficking, folding and refolding of proteins in all known cellular structures. Damage to these proteins is fatal; overexpression of these proteins is observed in stressed cells, such as in cancerous tissues. As such Hsp70's are a target for  the treatment of especially breast cancer. These Heat Shock Proteins are 70 kDa, and have a three domain structure: nucleotide-binding domain (45 kDa), substrate binding domain (15 kDa) and C-terminal domain (10 kDa). The chaperone helps the refolding of proteins by binding and release cycles (see pic) driven by  an  allosteric mechanism. We use high field NMR in solution  (600 - 900 MHz) to study its structure, dynamics and interaction as a function of substrate, nucleotides and co-chaperones.    We are  working on full-length chaperone constructs in order to decipher the allosteric mechanism (see pic)  and to help develop drugs (together with the Jason Gestwicki lab) to suppress its activity as an aid in Alzheimer therapy.

Summary of our work in Hsp70 chaperones

 

 

 

Dynamics methods

The understanding of protein function is incomplete without considering entropy, that is,  dynamics. In enzymes, the active site is often dynamic to be able to adept to substrate, transition state and product; for protein complexes, the  intermolecular interface sites are particularly dynamic to accomodate induced fits. Binding processes often involve perturbation of fast dynamical components,  contributing (sometimes to a dominant extent)  to the ligand binding entropy and hence ligand binding free energy (= affinity). NMR plays an important role in experimentally measuring dynamics in proteins at time scales ranging from seconds to pico seconds. Our mission is to develop and apply methods to describe what the motions actually are.

Summary of our work in dynamics

 

Alumni

Publications of the EZ-group
Varian sequences in simple programming style