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mHsp60-mHsp10 assists the folding of mitochondrial matrix proteins without the negative ATP binding inter-ring cooperativity of GroEL-GroES. Here we report the crystal structure of an ATP (ADP:BeF3-bound) ground-state mimic double-ring mHsp6014-(mHsp107)2 football complex, and the cryo-EM structures of the ADP-bound successor mHsp6014-(mHsp107)2 complex, and a single-ring mHsp607-mHsp107 half-football. The structures explain the nucleotide dependence of mHsp60 ring formation, and reveal an inter-ring nucleotide symmetry consistent with the absence of negative cooperativity. In the ground-state a two-fold symmetric H-bond and a salt bridge stitch the double-rings together, whereas only the H-bond remains as the equatorial gap increases in an ADP football poised to split into half-footballs. Refolding assays demonstrate obligate single- and double-ring mHsp60 variants are active, and complementation analysis in bacteria shows the single-ring variant is as efficient as wild-type mHsp60. Our work provides a structural basis for active single- and double-ring complexes coexisting in the mHsp60-mHsp10 chaperonin reaction cycle., The mHsp60-mHsp10 chaperonin system forms alternating single and double ring complexes to assist protein folding, but the molecular details of this cycle are not fully understood. Here, the authors present cryoEM and crystal structures of key intermediates of the mHsp60-mHsp10 reaction cycle.

The mitochondrial Hsp60-Hsp10 complex assists the folding of various proteins impelled by ATP hydrolysis, similar to the bacterial chaperonins GroEL and GroES. The near-atomic structural details of the mitochondrial chaperonins are not known, despite the fact that almost two decades have passed since the structures of the bacterial chaperonins became available. Here, the crystallization procedure, diffraction experiments and structure determination by molecular replacement of the mammalian mitochondrial chaperonin HSP60 (E321K mutant) and its co-chaperonin Hsp10 are reported.

Significance The human mitochondrial chaperonin is vital for proper cell function because it assists in folding of mitochondrial proteins. Additionally, it participates in extramitochondrial processes, such as apoptosis, inflammation, and carcinogenesis. In this study, we report the crystal structure of mitochondrial chaperonins. The model shows an “American football”-shaped intermediate, composed of two 7-membered chaperonin rings capped at each end by a cochaperonin ring. This complex was captured in the early stages of dissociation. The extensive interface contacts between its rings, the asymmetry that exists within each ring, and symmetric binding of nucleotide cofactors that exists between the rings suggest that the mitochondrial system operates via a mechanism that is distinct from the mechanism of the canonical Escherichia coli (GroEL/GroES) system.

Human malaria is among the most ubiquitous and destructive tropical, parasitic diseases in the world today. The causative agent, Plasmodium falciparum, contains an unusual, essential organelle known as the apicoplast. Inhibition of this degenerate chloroplast results in second generation death of the parasite and is the mechanism by which antibiotics function in treating malaria. In order to better understand the biochemistry of this organelle, we have cloned a putative, 20 kDa, co-chaperonin protein, Pf-cpn20, which localizes to the apicoplast. Although this protein is homologous to the cpn20 that is found in plant chloroplasts, its ability to function as a co-chaperonin was questioned in the past. In the present study, we carried out a structural analysis of Pf-cpn20 using circular dichroism and analytical ultracentrifugation and then used two different approaches to investigate the ability of this protein to function as a co-chaperonin. In the first approach, we purified recombinant Pf-cpn20 and tested its ability to act as a co-chaperonin for GroEL in vitro, while in the second, we examined the ability of Pf-cpn20 to complement an E. coli depletion of the essential bacterial co-chaperonin GroES. Our results demonstrate that Pf-cpn20 is fully functional as a co-chaperonin in vitro. Moreover, the parasitic co-chaperonin is able to replace GroES in E. coli at both normal and heat-shock temperatures. Thus, Pf-cpn20 functions as a co-chaperonin in chaperonin-mediated protein folding. The ability of the malarial protein to function in E. coli suggests that this simple system can be used as a tool for further analyses of Pf-cpn20 and perhaps other chaperone proteins from P. falciparum.

Type I chaperonins (cpn60/Hsp60) are essential proteins that mediate the folding of proteins in bacteria, chloroplast and mitochondria. Despite the high sequence homology among chaperonins, the mitochondrial chaperonin system has developed unique properties that distinguish it from the widely-studied bacterial system (GroEL and GroES). The most relevant difference to this study is that mitochondrial chaperonins are able to refold denatured proteins only with the assistance of the mitochondrial co-chaperonin. This is in contrast to the bacterial chaperonin, which is able to function with the help of co-chaperonin from any source. The goal of our work was to determine structural elements that govern the specificity between chaperonin and co-chaperonin pairs using mitochondrial Hsp60 as model system. We used a mutagenesis approach to obtain human mitochondrial Hsp60 mutants that are able to function with the bacterial co-chaperonin, GroES. We isolated two mutants, a single mutant (E321K) and a double mutant (R264K/E358K) that, together with GroES, were able to rescue an E. coli strain, in which the endogenous chaperonin system was silenced. Although the mutations are located in the apical domain of the chaperonin, where the interaction with co-chaperonin takes place, none of the residues are located in positions that are directly responsible for co-chaperonin binding. Moreover, while both mutants were able to function with GroES, they showed distinct functional and structural properties. Our results indicate that the phenotype of the E321K mutant is caused mainly by a profound increase in the binding affinity to all co-chaperonins, while the phenotype of R264K/E358K is caused by a slight increase in affinity toward co-chaperonins that is accompanied by an alteration in the allosteric signal transmitted upon nucleotide binding. The latter changes lead to a great increase in affinity for GroES, with only a minor increase in affinity toward the mammalian mitochondrial co-chaperonin.