Escherichia coli -Based Complementation Assay to Study the Chaperone Function of Heat Shock Protein 70

Summary

This protocol demonstrates the chaperone activity of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70). E. coli dnaK756 cells serve as a model for the assay as they harbor a native, functionally impaired Hsp70, making them susceptible to heat stress. The heterologous introduction of functional Hsp70 rescues the growth deficiency of the cells.

Abstract

Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) is a conserved protein that facilitates the folding of other proteins within the cell, making it a molecular chaperone. While Hsp70 is not essential for E. coli cells growing under normal conditions, this chaperone becomes indispensable for growth at elevated temperatures. Since Hsp70 is highly conserved, one way to study the chaperone function of Hsp70 genes from various species is to heterologously express them in E. coli strains that are either deficient in Hsp70 or express a native Hsp70 that is functionally compromised. E. coli dnaK756 cells are unable to support λ bacteriophage DNA. Furthermore, their native Hsp70 (DnaK) exhibits elevated ATPase activity while demonstrating reduced affinity for GrpE (Hsp70 nucleotide exchange factor). As a result, E. coli dnaK756 cells grow adequately at temperatures ranging from 30 °C to 37 °C, but they die at elevated temperatures (>40 °C). For this reason, these cells serve as a model for studying the chaperone activity of Hsp70. Here, we describe a detailed protocol for the application of these cells to conduct a complementation assay, enabling the study of the in cellulo chaperone function of Hsp70.

Introduction

Heat shock proteins play an important role as molecular chaperones by facilitating protein folding, preventing protein aggregation, and reversing protein misfolding^1,2. Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) is one of the most prominent molecular chaperones, playing a central role in protein homeostasis^3,4. DnaK is the E. coli Hsp70 homologue⁵.

Various biophysical, biochemical, and cell-based assays have been developed to explore the chaperone activity of Hsp70 and to screen for inhibitors targeting t....

Protocol

1. Transformation

NOTE: Use sterile glassware for culture, pipette tips, and freshly prepared and autoclaved media. Prepare cultures of the E. coli cells in 2x yeast tryptone (YT) [1.6% tryptone (w/v), 1% yeast extract (w/v), 0.5% NaCl (w/v), 1.5% agar (w/v)] agar. General reagents used in the protocol and their sources are provided in the Table of Materials.

1. Label 2.0 mL microcentrifuge tubes and aliquot 50 µL of competent E. col.......

Discussion

The protocol demonstrates the utility of E. coli dnaK756cells in exploring the chaperone function of heterologously expressed Hsp70. This assay could be adopted to screen inhibitors targeting Hsp70 function in cellulo. However, one limitation of this method is that Hsp70s unable to substitute for DnaK in E. coli are not compatible with this assay. Lack of post-translational modification²¹ of some non-native Hsp70s may account for their lack of function within the

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
2-β-Mercaptoethanol	Sigma-Aldrich	8,05,740	Constituent for sample loading dye
Acetic acid	Labchem	101005125	Constituent of destainer
Acrylamide	Sigma-Aldrich	8008300100	Component of SDS
Agar	Merck	HG000BX1.500	Constituent of medium and liquid growth assay
Agarose	Clever Scientific	14131031	Certified molecular biology agarose
Ammonium persulfate	Sigma-Aldrich	101875295	Constituent for SDS-PAGE gel
Ampicillin	VWR International	0339—EU—25G	Selective antibiotic
Bis	Sigma-aldrich	1015460100	Component of SDS
Bromophenol	Sigma-Aldrich	0449-25G	Constituent for sample loading dye
CaCl2	Sigma-Aldrich	10043-52-4	For competent cells preparation
Coomassie brilliant blue	VWR International	443293X	SDS-PAGE dye
Dibasic sodium phosphate	Sigma-Aldrich	RB10368	Constituent of PBS buffer
ECL	Thermofischer Scientific	32109	Western blot detection reagent
Ethidium Bromide	Thermofischer Scientific	17898	DNA intercalating dye
Glycerol	Merck	SAAR2676520L	Constituent for sample loading dye
Glycine	VWR International	10119CU	Component of SDS
IPTG	Glentham life sciences	162IL	inducer
Kanamycin	Melford	K0126	Selective antibiotic
Magnesium Chloride	Merck	SAAR4123000EM	Constituent of medium and liquid growth assay
Methanol	Labchem	113140129	Constituent of destainer
Monobasic potassium phosphate	Merck	1,04,87,30,250	Constituent of PBS buffer
Peptone	Merck	HG000BX4.250	Constituent of medium and liquid growth assay
Potassium chloride	Merck	SAAR5042020EM	Constituent of PBS buffer
PVDF membrane	Thermofischer scientific	PB7320	Western blot membrane
Sodium Chloride	Merck	SAAR5822320EM	Constituent of medium and liquid growth assay
Sodium dodecyl sulphate	VWR International	108073	To resolve expressed proteins
Spectramax iD3	Separations	373705019	Automated plate reader
TEMED	VWR international	ACRO420580500	Component of SDS gel
Tetracycline	Duchefa Biochemies	T0150.0025	Selective antibiotic
Tris	VWR International	19A094101	Component of SDS gel
Tween20	Merck	SAAR3164500XF	Constituent for Western wash buffer
Western transfer chamber	Thermofisher Scientific	PB0112	Transfer of protein to nitrocellulose membrane
Yeast extract	Merck	HG000BX6.500	Constituent of medium and liquid growth assay
α-DnaK antibody	Inqaba	BK CAC09317	Primary antibody
α-rabbit antibody	Thermofischer scientific	31460	Secondary antibody