In vivo functional protein-protein interaction: nuclear targeted hsp90 shifts cytoplasmic steroid receptor mutants into the nucleus.

In target tissue extracts, heat shock protein hsp90 has been found associated to all unliganded steroid receptors. Modulation of important functions of these receptors, including prevention of DNA binding and optimization of transcriptional activity, has been attributed to hsp90. However no unequivocal in vivo demonstration of interaction between receptors and hsp90 has been presented. We targeted chicken hsp90, a mainly cytoplasmic protein, with the nucleoplasmin nuclear localization signal (90NLS). After transfection into COS-7 cells, 90NLS was found in the nucleus with specific immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy techniques. A human glucocorticosteroid receptor mutant devoid of NLS sequence was also expressed in COS-7 cells and found exclusively cytoplasmic. Coexpression of 90NLS and of the cytoplasmic human glucocorticosteroid receptor mutant led to complete nuclear localization of the receptor, indicating its piggyback transport by 90NLS and thus physical and functional interaction between the two proteins in the absence of hormone. The same nuclear localization was obtained after cotransfection of 90NLS and a cytoplasmic rabbit progesterone receptor mutant. Finally, coexpression of wild-type rabbit progesterone receptor (nuclear) and wildtype hsp90 (cytoplasmic) into COS-7 cells provoked partial relocalization of hsp90 into the nucleus. These experiments lay the groundwork on which to study hsp90 as a chaperone, regulating activities of steroid receptors and possibly participating in their nuclear-cytoplasmic shuttling.