New Swiss-knife activities of GroEL/Hsp60 proteins

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Abstract

GroEL/Hsp60 chaperonins are key proteins that control cell metabolism, stress adaptation and survival. They usually form a tetradecameric structure that assists, coupled to ATP hydrolysis, 10% of all cellular protein folding. Using recombinant E. coli , human mitochondrial and M. tuberculosis chaperonins, we found that these proteins have thioesterase, esterase and even, for some of them, auto-acyltransferase activities. The smaller oligomers of Hsp60 and M. tuberculosis GroEL1 were more prone to use the long acyl carbon chain substrate palmitoyl-CoA compared to tetradecameric E. coli GroEL and Hsp60. Enzymatic competition and replacement of M. tuberculosis GroEL1 residues allow identifying Asp86 and Thr89 in the ATP-binding pocket and an additional Ser393 influencing the thioesterase activity. Additionally, M. tuberculosis GroEL1 might enhance palmitoylation of the PpsE protein, which plays a role in the phthiocerol dimycocerosate (PDIM) biosynthesis. This could explain at least partly the involvement of GroEL1 in PDIM biosynthesis and antibiotic resistance.
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Abstract GroEL/Hsp60 chaperonins are key proteins that control cell metabolism, stress adaptation and survival. They usually form a tetradecameric structure that assists, coupled to ATP hydrolysis, 10% of all cellular protein folding. Using recombinant E. coli, human mitochondrial and M. tuberculosis chaperonins, we found that these proteins have thioesterase, esterase and even, for some of them, auto-acyltransferase activities. The smaller oligomers of Hsp60 and M. tuberculosis GroEL1 were more prone to use the long acyl carbon chain substrate palmitoyl-CoA compared to tetradecameric E. coli GroEL and Hsp60. Enzymatic competition and replacement of M. tuberculosis GroEL1 residues allow identifying Asp86 and Thr89 in the ATP-binding pocket and an additional Ser393 influencing the thioesterase activity. Additionally, M. tuberculosis GroEL1 might enhance palmitoylation of the PpsE protein, which plays a role in the phthiocerol dimycocerosate (PDIM) biosynthesis. This could explain at least partly the involvement of GroEL1 in PDIM biosynthesis and antibiotic resistance. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest.

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last seen: 2026-05-20T01:45:00.602351+00:00