A lessor understood co-chaperone, the Hsp70/Hsp90 organising protein (Hop), has been found to play an important role in modulating the activity and co-interaction of two essential chaperones; Hsp90 and Hsp70. The best understood aspects of Hop so far indicate that residues in the concave surfaces of the three tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domains in the protein bind selectively to the C-terminal motifs of Hsp70 and Hsp90. Recent research suggests that P. falciparum Hop (PfHop), PfHsp90 and PfHsp70 do interact and form complex in the P. falciparum trophozooite and are overexpressed in this infective stage. However, there has been almost no computational research on malarial Hop protein in complex with other malarial Hsps.The current work has focussed on several aspects of the in-silico characterisation of PfHop, including an in-depth multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis of the protein; which showed that Hop is very well conserved across a wide range of available phyla (four Kingdoms, 60 species). Homology modelling was employed to predict several protein structures for these interactions in P. falciparum, as well as predict structures of the relevant TPR domains of Human Hop (HsHop) in complex with its own Hsp90 and Hsp70 C-terminal peptide partners for comparison. Protein complex interaction analyses indicate that concave TPR sites bound to the C-terminal motifs of partner proteins are very similar in both species, due to the excellent conservation of the TPR domain’s “double carboxylate binding clamp”. Motif analysis was combined with phylogenetic trees and structure mapping in novel ways to attain more information on the evolutionary conservation of important structural and functional sites on Hop. Alternative sites of interaction between Hop TPR2 and Hsp90’s M and C domains are distinctly less well conserved between the two species, but still important to complex formation, making this a likely interaction site for selective drug targeting. Binding and interaction energies for all modelled complexes have been calculated; indicating that all HsHop TPR domains have higher affinities for their respective C-terminal partners than do their P. falciparum counterparts. An alternate motif corresponding to the C-terminal motif of PfHsp70-x (exported to the infected erythrocyte cytosol) in complex with both human and malarial TPR1 and TPR2B domains was analysed, and these studies suggest that the human TPR domains have a higher affinity for this motif than do the respective PfHop TPR domains. This may indicate potential for a cross species protein interaction to take place, as PfHop is not transported to the human erythrocyte cytosol.

Orientadores: Gustavo Antonio de Souza, José Vassallo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Ciências Médicas / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-16T10:53:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Baptista_MauricioZuccolotto_M.pdf: 8709827 bytes, checksum: 83a90faa4c0b3ee087444229cb9deee0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Introdução: Evidências pré-clínicas implicam GRP78 como um possível marcador de resistência em quimioterapia baseada em antracíclicos em câncer de mama. Objetivos: O presente estudo avalia a relação entre a expressão de GRP78 no retículo endoplasmático (RE) e na membrana celular (MC) e a sobrevida global (SG) e a sobrevida livre de progressão (SLP) em pacientes tratadas com antracíclicos na adjuvância. Sujeitos e Métodos: Foram selecionadas 106 pacientes com estádios II e III de câncer de mama. Os dados clínicos foram obtidos de prontuários médicos. O microarranjo de tecidos (TMA) foi construído com blocos de parafina de tumores de mama. A expressão de GRP78 foi avaliada por imuno-histoquímica utilizando quatro cenários distintos: os cenários de alto e baixo limiar para o RE e os cenários de alto e baixo limiar para a MC. Resultados: O follow-up médio foi de 7.54 anos. Nos cenários de alto-limiar, 16% dos casos resultaram em GRP78-positiva para o RE e 40% em GRP78- positiva para a MC. Nos cenários de baixo-limiar, 74% dos casos resultaram em GRP78-positiva para o RE e 87% em GRP78-positiva para a MC. 10% dos casos mostraram nível forte (3+) de intensidade de coloração para GRP78 na MC. Ao término do seguimento não foi encontrada nenhuma relação entre a expressão de GRP78, a progressão de doença e o risco relativo de morte. O mesmo ocorreu com as probabilidades de sobrevida livre de progressão, exceto para mulheres acima de 50 anos de idade e pós-menopausadas, que tiveram um risco reduzido (RR=0.03; IC95% 0.01 a 0.40) de progressão de doença se positivas para GRP78. Não houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre as probabilidades de sobrevida em nenhum dos cenários examinados. Conclusões: Em nossa coorte, a superexpressão de GRP78 não foi significativamente associada à SG e à SLP das mulheres que receberam quimioterapia adjuvante baseada em antracíclicos. Este estudo fornece evidência que sustenta a forte atividade de GRP78 na membrana celular de células de câncer de mama. / Abstract: Introduction: Preclinical evidence implicates GRP78 as one possible marker of resistance to anthracycline-based adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Objectives: The present study assessed the relation between GRP78 expression in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and cell membrane (CM) of breast malignancies and overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients treated with anthracyclines in the adjuvant setting. Subjects and Methods: 106 stage II/III breast cancer patients were selected. Clinical data were retrieved from medical reports. Tissue Microarray was constructed from paraffin blocks of breast tumors. GRP78 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry using four distinct scenarios: low and high GRP78 expression thresholds for ER and CM. Results: The median follow-up was 7.54 years. In the high-threshold scenarios, 16% of our cases were GRP78-positive for ER, and 40% were GRP78-positive for CM. In the low-threshold scenarios, 74% of our cases were GRP78-positive for ER, and 87% were GRP78-positive for CM. 10% of all cases showed strong (3+) CM staining of GRP78. By the end of the follow-up, no relation was found between GRP78 expression and disease progression and the relative risk of death. The same was true for the PFS probabilities, except for women above fifty years and postmenopausal, who had a reduced risk (RR=0.03; 95%CI 0.01 to 0.40) of disease progression if positive for GRP78. There was no statistically significant difference between the survival probabilities in any scenarios examined. Conclusions: In our cohort, GRP78 overexpression was not a predictor of OS or PFS of patients receiving anthracycline adjuvant chemotherapy. This study provides evidence supporting strong GRP78 activity in the CM of breast cancer cells. / Mestrado / Ciencias Biomedicas / Mestre em Tocoginecologia

Orientador: Carlos Henrique Inacio Ramos / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-08T11:17:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cepeda_AnaOlivaTiroli_D.pdf: 3942958 bytes, checksum: 940e4a499333daa56fd9a4fc5899919c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: As proteínas estão envolvidas com as mais diversas funções biológicas. No entanto, para realizar sua função adequadamente, uma proteína deve estar enovelada, ou seja, em sua conformação nativa. Para garantir isso, existe nas células, um elaborado sistema que envolve chaperones moleculares, capaz de auxiliar na prevenção do enovelamento incorreto e da agregação de proteínas Chaperones, de uma maneira geral, são proteínas que ligam e estabilizam polipeptídeos, facilitando seu enovelamento correto sem contribuir com informações conformacionais. O aumento no número de doenças provocadas pelo enovelamento incorreto de proteínas que se depositam nos tecidos na forma de amilóides (também chamadas de doenças conformacionais), tem chamado a atenção para estudos de agregados protéicos, que outrora foram considerados artefatos quando se trabalhava com esse tipo de macromolécula. Nesse sentido, o estudo de chaperones tem ganhado um interesse particular, já que são fortes candidatos ao combate de doenças amiloloidogênicas. Neste trabalho, são apresentados estudos sobre duas famílias de chaperones, a Hsp40 da subfamília A humana e duas sHsps de classe I de cana-de-açúcar, as quais estão envolvidas com o reconhecimento e a apresentação de substratos (proteínas parcialmente desenoveladas) para outras famílias de chaperones responsáveis pelo processo de reenovelamento. Essas duas famílias de chaperones em particular são também conhecidas como 'holdases¿, e são muito diversas, característica necessária para interagir com a grande diversidade de substratos em potencial que existe na célula. As duas sHsps estudadas aqui, as mais expressas em cana-de-açúcar, e a caracterização de suas estruturas e suas eficiências como chaperones, tornou possível a elaboração de uma hipótese sobre o mecanismo de ação dessas proteínas em função do aumento de temperatura. Nesse sentido, é mostrado neste trabalho que sHsps, respondem ao aumento de temperatura passando por expansão conformacional, provavelmente para aumentar a superfície hidrofóbica para a interação com os substratos. O efeito do calor sobre a Hsp40 também foi estudado e os resultados mostraram que essa proteína forma agregados com propriedades amiloidogênicas. Esta é a primeira vez que tais características são descritas para um chaperone de eucarioto. De maneira geral, as implicações dos resultados apresentados aqui podem aumentar o conhecimento geral sobre chaperones e sobre a pesquisa de tratamentos para as doenças conformacionais / Abstract: Proteins are involved with a large variety of biological functions. However, to function properly, proteins must be folded, i.e., they must reach their native conformation. According to that, an elaborated system involving molecular chaperones exists in the cell that helps to prevent the incorrect folding of proteins and also their aggregation. Chaperones, in a general way, are proteins that bind and stabilize polypeptides, facilitating its correct folding without contributing with conformational information. The increasing number of diseases caused by the incorrect folding of proteins that deposit in the form of amyloids (also called conformational diseases) has raised the interest in the study of protein aggregates, which, not long ago, where considered just purification artifacts. In this way, the study of chaperones has gained particular interest because they are potential candidates against amyloidogenic diseases. In this work, we present studies on two families of chaperones, a human Hsp40 from subfamily A and two sugar cane sHsps from class I, which are involved in substrate (partially unfolded proteins) recognition and presentation to other chaperone families that are more active in the protein refolding process. These particular chaperones are also know as 'holdases¿ and they are usually diverse, a characteristic necessary to interact with a large variety of substrate in the cell. The two sHsps studied here are the most expressed in sugar cane and their structure and chaperone efficiency characterization made possible to elaborate a hypothesis on the mechanism of action of these proteins when temperature increases. In that matter, we were able to show that sHsps respond to an increase in temperature by undergoing conformational expansion, likely to increase the hydrophobic area for substrate interaction. The effect of heat on Hsp40 has also been studied and our results showed that this protein form aggregates with amyloidogenic properties. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such characteristics are described for an eukaryotic chaperone. To sum up, we believe that the implications of the results shown here may add to the general knowledge on chaperones and to the search of a treatment for conformational diseases / Doutorado / Bioquimica / Doutor em Biologia Funcional e Molecular

No description available.

HSP70 is one of the most important families of molecular chaperone that regulate the folding and transport of client proteins in an ATP dependent manner. The ATPase activity of HSP70 is stimulated through an interaction with its family of HSP40 co-chaperones. There is evidence to suggest that specific partnerships occur between the different HSP40 and HSP70 isoforms. While some of the residues involved in the interaction are known, many of the residues governing the specificity of HSP40-HSP70 partnerships are not precisely defined. It is not currently possible to predict which HSP40 and HSP70 isoforms will interact. We attempted to use bioinformatics to identify residues involved in the specificity of the interaction between the J domain from HSP40 and the ATPase domain from the HSP70 isoforms from humans. A total of 49 HSP40 and 13 HSP70 sequences from humans were retrieved and used for subsequent analyses. The HSP40 J domains and HSP70 ATPase domains were extracted using python scripts and classified according to the subcellular localization of the proteins using localization prediction programs. Motif analysis was carried out using the full length HSP40 proteins and Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) was performed to identify conserved residues that may contribute to the J domain – ATPase domain interactions. Phylogenetic inference of the proteins was also performed in order to study their evolutionary relationship. Homology models of the J domains and ATPase domains were generated. The corresponding models were docked using HADDOCK server in order to analyze possible putative interactions between the partner proteins using the Protein Interactions Calculator (PIC). The level of residue conservation was found to be higher in Type I and II HSP40 than in Type III J proteins. While highly conserved residues on helixes II and III could play critical roles in J domain interactions with corresponding HSP70s, conserved residues on helixes I and IV seemed to be significant in keeping the J domain in its right orientation for functional interactions with HSP70s. Our results also showed that helixes II and III formed the interaction interface for binding to HSP70 ATPase domain as well as the linker residues. Finally, data based docking procedures, such as applied in this study, could be an effective method to investigate protein-protein interactions complex of biomolecules.

The heat shock proteins of ~ 70 kDa (Hsp70s) are a conserved group of molecular chaperones important in maintaining the protein homeostasis in cells, carrying out functions including refolding of misfolded or unfolded proteins. Hsp70s function in conjunction with a number of other proteins including Hsp40 cochaperones. Central to the regulation Hsp70 activity is the Hsp70 ATPase cycle, involving ATP hydrolysis by Hsp70, and stimulation of this ATP hydrolysis by Hsp40. PfHsp70-1, the major cytosolic Hsp70 in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and PfHsp70-x, a novel malarial Hsp70 recently found to be exported to the host cell cytosol during the erythrocytic stages of the P. falciparum lifecycle, are both thought to play important roles in the malaria parasite’s survival and virulence, and thus represent novel antimalarial targets. Modulation of the function of these proteins by small molecules could thus lead to the development of antimalarials with novel targets and mechanisms. In the present study, malarial Hsp70s (PfHsp70-1 and PfHsp70-x), human Hsp70 (HSPA1A), malarial Hsp40 (PfHsp40) and human Hsp40 (Hsj1a) were recombinantly produced in Escherichia coli. In a characterisation of the chaperone activity of recombinant PfHsp70-x, the protein was found to have a basal ATPase activity (15.7 nmol ATP/min/mg protein) comparable to that previously described for PfHsp70-1, and an aggregation suppression activity significantly higher than that of PfHsp70-1. In vitro assays were used to screen five compounds of interest (lapachol, bromo-β-lapachona and malonganenones A, B and C) belonging to two compound classes (1,4 naphthoquinones and prenylated alkaloids) for modulatory effects on PfHsp70-1, PfHsp70-x and HsHsp70. A wide range of effects by compounds on the chaperone activities of Hsp70s was observed, including differential effects by compounds on different Hsp70s despite high conservation (≥ 70 % sequence identity) between the Hsp70s. The five compounds were shown to interact with all three Hsp70s in in vitro binding studies. Differential modulation by compounds was observed between the Hsj1a-stimulated ATPase activities of different Hsp70s, suggestive of not only a high degree of specificity of compounds to chaperone systems, but also distinct interactions between different Hsp70s and Hjs1a. The effects of compounds on the survival of P. falciparum parasites as well as mammalian cells was assessed. Bromo-β-lapachona was found to have broad effects across all systems, modulating the chaperone activities of all three Hsp70s, and showing significant toxicity toward both P. falciparum parasites and mammalian cells in culture. Malonganenone A was found to modulate only the malarial Hsp70s, not human Hsp70, showing significant toxicity toward malarial parasites (IC₅₀ ~ 0.8 μM), and comparatively low toxicity toward mammalian cells, representing therefore a novel starting point for a new class of antimalarials potentially targeting a new antimalarial drug target, Hsp70.

Heat shock protein 70 (called DnaK in prokaryotes) is one of the most prominent groups of chaperones whose role is to prevent and reverse protein misfolding. PfHsp70 is a heatinducible cytoplasm/nuclear localised Plasmodium falciparum Hsp70. PfHsp70 is thought to confer chaperone cytoprotection to P. falciparum during the development of malaria fever. The objective of this study was to examine the chaperone properties of PfHsp70 using a bioinformatics approach, coupled to in vivo and in vitro analysis. Structural motifs that qualify PfHsp70 as a typical Hsp70 chaperone were identified. Although PfHsp70 has a higher similarity to human Hsc70 than E. coli DnaK, in vivocomplementation assays showed that PfHsp70 was able to reverse the thermosensitivity of E. coli dnaK756 (a temperature sensitive strain whose DnaK is functionally compromised). Two residues (V401 and Q402) in the linker region of PfHsp70 that are critical for its in vivo function were identified. Constructs were generated that encoded the ATPase domain of PfHsp70 and the peptide binding domain of E. coli DnaK (to generate PfK chimera); and the ATPase domain of E. coli DnaK fused to the peptide binding domain of PfHsp70 (KPf). The two chimeras were tested for their ability to reverse the thermosensitivity of E. coli dnaK756 cells. Whilst KPf was able to reverse the thermosensitivity of the E. coli dnaK756 cells, PfK could not. Previously, PfHsp70 purification involved urea denaturation. Using a detergent, polyethylenimine (PEI), PfHsp70 was natively purified. Natively purified PfHsp70 had a basal ATPase activity approximately two times higher than the previously reported activity for the protein purified through urea denaturation. PfJ4, a type II Hsp40, could not stimulate the ATPase activity of PfHsp70 in vitro. Arch and hydrophobic pocket substitutions (A419Y, Y444A and V451F) were introduced in the PfHsp70 peptide binding domain. Similar substitutions were also introduced in the KPf chimera. PfHsp70-V451F (hydrophobic pocket mutant) had marginally compromised in vivo function. However, a similar mutation (V436F), introduced in KPf abrogated the in vivo function of this chimera. The arch and hydrophobic pocket derivatives of PfHsp70 exhibited marginally compromised in vivo function, whilst equivalent mutations in KPf did not affect its in vivo function. The ability of PfHsp70 and its arch/hydrophobic pocket mutants to suppress the heatinduced aggregation of malate dehydrogenase (MDH) in vitro was investigated. Whilst PfHsp70 arch mutants displayed marginal functional loss in vivo, data from in vitro studies revealed that their functional deficiencies were more severe. This is the first study in which an Hsp70 from a parasitic eukaryote was able to suppress the thermosensitivity of an E. coli DnaK mutant strain. Findings from the in vivo and in vitro assays conducted on PfHsp70 suggest that this protein plays a key role in the life-cycle of P. falciparum. Furthermore, this study raised insights that are pertinent to the current dogma on the Hsp70 mechanism of action.

Protein folding, translocation, oligomeric rearrangement and degradation are vital functions to obtain correctly folded proteins in any cell. The constitutive or stress-induced members of each of the heat shock protein (Hsp) families, namely Hsp70 and Hsp40, make up the Hsp70/Hsp40 chaperone system. The Hsp40 J-domain is important for the Hsp70-Hsp40 interaction and hence function. The type-II Hsp40 proteins, Homo sapiens DnaJ 1a (Hsj1a) and Plasmodium falciparum DnaJ 4 (Pfj4), are structurally similar suggesting possible similar roles during malarial infection. This thesis has focussed on identifying whether Hsj1a and Pfj4 are functionally similar in their interaction with potential partner Hsp70 chaperones. Analysis in silico also showed Pfj4 to have a potential chaperone domain, a region resembling a ubiquitin-interacting motif (UIM) corresponding to UIM1 of HsjIa, and another highly conserved region was noted between residues 232-241. The highly conserved regions within the Hsp40 J-domains, and those amino acids therein, are suggested to be responsible for mediating this Hsp70-Hsp40 partner interaction. The thermosensitive dnaJ cbpA Escherichia coli OD259 mutant strain producing type-I Agrobacterium tumefaciens DnaJ (AgtDnaJ) was used as a model heterologous expression system in this study. AgtDnaJ was able to replace the lack of two E coli Hsp40s in vivo, DnaJ and CbpA, whereas AgtDnaJ(H33Q) was unable to. AgtDnaJ-based chimeras containing the swapped J-domains of similar type-II Hsp40 proteins, namely Hsj1Agt and Pfj4Agt, were also able to replace these in E. coli OD259. Conserved J-domain amino acids were identified and were substituted in these chimeras. Of these mutant proteins, Hsj IAgt(L8A), Hsj1Agt(R24A), Hsj1Agt(H31Q), Pfj4Agt(L 11A) and Pfj4Agt(H34Q) were not able to replace the E. coli Hsp40s, whilst Pfj4Agt(Y8A) and Pfj4Agt(R27A) were only able to partially replace them. This shows the leucine of helix I and the histidine of the loop region are key in the in vivo function of both proteins and that the arginine of helix II is key for Hsj1a. The histidine-tagged Hsj1a protein was also successfully purified from the heterologous system. The in vitro stimulated ATPase activity of human Hsp70 by Hsj1a was found to be approximately 14 nmol Pí[subscript]/min/mg, and yet not stimulated by Pfj4, suggesting a possible species-specific interaction is occurring.

The 90-KDa heat shock protein (Hsp90) is part of the molecular chaperone family, and as such it is involved in the regulation of protein homeostasis within cells. Specifically, Hsp90 aids in the folding of nascent proteins and re-folding of denatured proteins. It also plays an important role in the prevention of protein aggregation. Hsp90’s functionality is attributed to its several staged, multi-conformational ATPase cycle, in which associated client proteins are bound and released. Hsp90 is known to be associated with a wide array of client proteins, some of which are thought to be involved in multiple oncogenic processes. Indeed Hsp90 is known to be directly involved in perpetuating the stability and function of multiple mutated, chimeric and over-expressed signalling proteins that are known to promote the growth and survival of cancer cells. Hsp90 inhibitors are thus thought to be promising therapeutic agents for cancer treatment. A lack of a 3D structure of human Hsp90 however has restricted Hsp90 inhibitor development in large to in vivo investigations. This study, aims to investigate and calculate hypothetical homology models of the full human Hsp90 protein, and to probe these structural models for novel drug target sites using several in silico techniques. A multi-template homology modelling methodology was developed and in conjunction with protein-protein docking techniques, two functionally important human Hsp90 structural models were calculated; the nucleotide free “v-like” open and nucleotide bound closed conformations. Based on the conservation of ligand binding, virtual screening experiments conducted on both models using 316 natural compounds indigenous to South Africa, revealed three novel putative target sites. Two binding pockets in close association with important Hsp90-Hop interaction residues and a single binding pocket on the dimerization interface in the C-terminal domain. Targeted molecular docking experiments at these sites revealed two compounds (721395-11-5 and 264624-39-7) as putative inhibitors, both showing strong binding affinities for at least one of the three investigated target sites. Furthermore both compounds were found to only violate one Lipinski’s rules, suggesting their potential as candidates for further drug development. The combined work described here provides a putative platform for the development of next generation inhibitors of human Hsp90.

The 70 kDa heat shock proteins (Hsp70s) are vital for normal protein folding, as they stabilise the unfolded state of nascent polypeptides, allowing these sufficient time to attain a correct tertiary structure. Hsp70s are aided by the DnaJ-like family of proteins, which interact with Hsp70s in order to enhance the chaperone activity of these proteins. DnaJ-like proteins contain a J domain, a seventy amino acid domain consisting of four α-helices, which is defined by the presence of an invariant tripeptide of histidine, proline and aspartic acid (HPD motif). This motif is key to the interaction between DnaJ-like proteins and Hsp70s. This thesis has focused on determining the presence of other conserved residues in the J domain and their role in mediating the interaction of DnaJ-like proteins with partner Hsp70s. DnaJ-like proteins from Agrobacterium tumefaciens RUOR were isolated and used as a model system. A. tumefaciens DnaJ (Agt DnaJ) was able to replace the lack of E. coli DnaJ in an E. coli null mutant strain, however, additional A. tumefaciens DnaJ-like proteins Agt DjC1/DjlA, Agt DjC2 and Agt DjC5 were unable to complement for the lack of E. coli DnaJ. Replacement of the Agt DnaJ J domain with J domains from these proteins resulted in non-functional chimeric proteins, despite some sequence conservation. The kinetics of the basal specific ATPase activity of Agt DnaK, and its ability to have this activity stimulated by Agt DnaJ and Agt DnaJ-H33Q were also investigated. Stimulation of the ATPase activity by Agt DnaJ ranged between 1.5 to 2 fold, but Agt DnaJ-H33Q was unable to stimulate the basal ATPase activity. Conserved amino acids in the J domain were identified in silico, and these residues were substituted in the J domain of Agt DnaJ. The ability of these derivative proteins to replace E. coli DnaJ was investigated. Alterations in the HPD motif gave rise to proteins unable to complement for lack of E. coli DnaJ, consistent with literature. Agt DnaJ-R26A was unable to replace E. coli DnaJ suggesting that Arg26 could be key to the interaction with partner Hsp70s. Agt DnaJ-D59A was unable to replace E. coli DnaJ; substitutions in Asp59 have not previously been shown to impact on the function of DnaJ. Substituting Arg63 in Agt DnaJ abrogated the levels of complementation. Substitution of several structural residues was also found to disrupt the in vivo function of Agt DnaJ suggesting that the maintenance of the structural integrity of the J domain was important for function. This study has identified a number of residues critical to the structure and function of the J domain of Agt DnaJ, and potentially of general importance as molecular determinants for DnaJ-Hsp70 interaction.