Analysis of Chaperone mRNA Expression in the Adult Mouse Brain by Meta Analysis of the Allen Brain Atlas

The pathology of many neurodegenerative diseases is characterized by the accumulation of misfolded and aggregated proteins in various cell types and regional substructures throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. The accumulation of these aggregated proteins signals dysfunction of cellular protein homeostatic mechanisms such as the ubiquitin/proteasome system, autophagy, and the chaperone network. Although there are several published studies in which transcriptional profiling has been used to examine gene expression in various tissues, including tissues of neurodegenerative disease models, there has not been a report that focuses exclusively on expression of the chaperone network. In the present study, we used the Allen Brain Atlas online database to analyze chaperone expression levels. This database utilizes a quantitative in situ hybridization approach and provides data on 270 chaperone genes within many substructures of the adult mouse brain. We determined that 256 of these chaperone genes are expressed at some level. Surprisingly, relatively few genes, only 30, showed significant variations in levels of mRNA across different substructures of the brain. The greatest degree of variability was exhibited by genes of the DnaJ co-chaperone, Tetratricopeptide repeat, and the HSPH families. Our analysis provides a valuable resource towards determining how variations in chaperone gene expression may modulate the vulnerability of specific neuronal populations of mammalian brain

FKBP (FK506 Binding Protein)

In the 70s, after a decade from the purification of cyclosporine, a selective immunosuppressant agent and potent tool in transplantation medicine, a novel molecule was purified from bacteria Streptomyces tsukubaensis. This molecule, called FK506, showed the same selective immunosuppressant action as cyclosporine but was 10 to 100 fold more potent. In an attempt to clarify the molecular mechanism through which the new drug exerted such a selective effect on T-cells activation, two laboratories identified the cytosolic receptor for FK506. This so-called FK506 binding protein (FKBP) was purified from bovine thymus, human spleen, and Jurkat T-cell line. The isolated FKBP had an approximate molecular mass of 14 kDa and showed an isomerase activity similar to the recently purified cyclosporine-binding protein, cyclophilin, but, it was inhibited by FK506 and rapamycin but not cyclosporine. The subsequent cloning of FKBP gene revealed that FKBP and cyclophilin had dissimilar sequences in spite of their common enzymatic activity. The identified FKBP gene encoded for a protein of 108 aminoacids with a relative molecular mass of 11,819. For this reason, the progenitor of this nascent class of proteins was later known as FKBP12. The subsequent studies showed that FKBP12 was just a member of a ubiquitous and evolutionarily conserved sub-family of proteins which differ from each other in their molecular weight and structure. All FKBPs share a highly conserved domain, termed “FK-12 like domain”, capable of binding to FK506 and exerting isomerase properties, i.e. interconversion from cis-to-trans and trans-to-cis of peptide bonds involving proline, on protein substrates. A schematic historical background of the 17 FKBPs so far identified is shown. A general overview of FKBP structure, function and eventually associated disease is given in this monograph, with the order of proteins following the chronology of discovery

Functions of the Hsp90-binding FKBP Immunophilins.

Hsp90 functionally interacts with a broad array of client proteins, but in every case examined Hsp90 is accompanied by one or more co-chaperones. One class of co-chaperone contains a tetratricopeptide repeat domain that targets the co-chaperone to the C-terminal region of Hsp90. Within this class are Hsp90-binding peptidylprolyl isomerases, most of which belong to the FK506-binding protein (FKBP) family. Despite the common association of FKBP co-chaperones with Hsp90, it is now clear that the client protein influences, and is influenced by, the particular FKBP bound to Hsp90. Examples include Xap2 in aryl hydrocarbon receptor complexes and FKBP52 in steroid receptor complexes. In this chapter, we discuss the known functional roles played by FKBP co-chaperones and, where possible, relate distinctive functions to structural differences between FKBP members