Mammalian CHORD-containing protein 1 is a novel heat shock protein 90-interacting protein

With two tandem repeated cysteine- and histidine-rich domains (designated as CHORD), CHORD-containing proteins (CHPs) are a novel family of highly conserved proteins that play important roles in plant disease resistance and animal development. Through interacting with suppressor of the G2 allele of Skp1 (SGT1) and Hsp90, plant CHORD-containing protein RAR1 (required for Mla resistance 1) plays a critical role in disease resistance mediated by multiple R genes. Yet, the physiological function of vertebrate CHORD-containing protein-1 (Chp-1) has been poorly investigated. In this study, we provide the first biochemical evidence demonstrating that mammalian Chp-1 is a novel Hsp90-interacting protein. Mammalian Chp-1 contains two CHORD domains (I and II) and one CS domain (a domain shared by CHORD-containing proteins and SGT1). With sequence and structural similarity to Hsp90 co-chaperones p23 and SGT1, Chp-1 binds to the ATPase domain of Hsp90, but the biochemical property of the interaction is unique. The Chp-1-Hsp90 interaction is independent of ATP and ATPase-coupled conformational change of Hsp90, a feature that distinguishes Chp-1 from p23. Furthermore, it appears that multiple domains of Chp-1 are required for stable Chp-1-Hsp90 interaction. Unlike SGT1 whose CS domain is sufficient for Hsp90 binding, the CS domain of Chp-1 is essential but not sufficient for Hsp90 binding. While the CHORD-I domain of Chp-1 is dispensable for Hsp90 binding, the CHORD-II domain and the linker region are essential. Interestingly, the CHORD-I domain of plant RAR1 protein is solely responsible for Hsp90 binding. The unique Chp-1-Hsp90 interaction may be indicative of a distinct biological activity of Chp-1 and functional diversification of CHORD-containing proteins during evolution.