The molecular chaperone Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) is essential for the function of various oncoproteins that are vital components of multiple signaling networks regulating cancer cell proliferation, survival, and metastasis. Hsp90 chaperone function is coupled to its ATPase activity, which can be inhibited by natural products such as the ansamycin geldanamycin (GA) and the resorcinol radici...

Bacterial toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems, in which a labile antitoxin binds and inhibits the toxin, can promote adaptation and persistence by modulating bacterial growth in response to stress. Some atypical TA systems, known as tripartite toxin-antitoxin-chaperone (TAC) modules, include a molecular chaperone that facilitates folding and protects the antitoxin from degradation. Here we use a TAC m...

In acute pancreatitis, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress prompts an accumulation of malfolded proteins inside the ER, initiating the unfolded protein response (UPR). Because the ER chaperone tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) is known to inhibit the UPR in vitro, this study examined the in vivo effects of TUDCA in an acute experimental pancreatitis model. Acute pancreatitis was induced in Wistar...

Inflammation plays an important pathogenic role in a number of metabolic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis. The activation of inflammation in these diseases depends at least in part on the combined actions of TLR4 signaling and endoplasmic reticulum stress, which by acting in concert can boost the inflammatory response. Defining the mechanisms involved in this pheno...

Heat shock protein (Hsp) 90 is an ATP-dependent molecular chaperone that is exploited by malignant cells to support activated oncoproteins, including many cancer-associated kinases and transcription factors, and it is essential for oncogenic transformation. Originally viewed with skepticism, Hsp90 inhibitors are now being actively pursued by the pharmaceutical industry, with 17 agents having en...

Bacteria possess several molecular pathways to adapt changing environments and stress conditions. One of these involves a complex network chaperone proteins that together control proteostasis. In the aquatic bacterium Shewanella oneidensis, we have recently identified previously unknown co-chaperone DnaK/Hsp70 system, AtcJ, is essential for adaptation low temperatures. AtcJ encoded in atcJABC o...