NO production by neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) requires calmodulin and is enhanced by the chaperone Hsp90, which cycles dynamically with the enzyme. The proteasomal degradation of nNOS is enhanced by suicide inactivation and by treatment with Hsp90 inhibitors, the latter suggesting that dynamic cycling with Hsp90 stabilizes nNOS. Here, we use a purified ubiquitinating system containing CHIP (carboxyl terminus of Hsp70-interacting protein) as the E3 ligase to show that Hsp90 inhibits CHIP-dependent nNOS ubiquitination. Like the established Hsp90 enhancement of NO synthesis, Hsp90 inhibition of nNOS ubiquitination is Ca 2+ /calmodulin-dependent, suggesting that the same interaction of Hsp90 with the enzyme is responsible for both enhancement of nNOS activity and inhibition of ubiquitination. It is established that CHIP binds to Hsp90 as well as to Hsp70, but we show here the two chaperones have opposing actions on nNOS ubiquitination, with Hsp70 stimulating and Hsp90 inhibiting. We have used two mechanism-based inactivators, guanabenz and N G -amino-L-arginine, to alter the heme/substrate binding cleft and promote nNOS ubiquitination that can be inhibited by Hsp90. We envision that as nNOS undergoes toxic damage, the heme/substrate binding cleft opens exposing hydrophobic residues as the initial step in unfolding. As long as Hsp90 can form even transient complexes with the opening cleft, ubiquitination by Hsp70-dependent ubiquitin E3 ligases, like CHIP, is inhibited. When unfolding of the cleft progresses to a state that cannot cycle with Hsp90, Hsp70-dependent ubiquitination is unopposed. In this way, the Hsp70/Hsp90 machinery makes the quality control decision for stabilization versus degradation of nNOS.Both the function and turnover of a wide variety of signaling proteins, such as steroid receptors and protein kinases, are regulated by Hsp90 1 (reviewed in Ref. 1). These Hsp90 'client' proteins are assembled into complexes with the chaperone by a multichaperone machinery in which Hsp90 and Hsp70 function together as essential components (1). Formation of heterocomplexes with Hsp90 stabilizes client proteins, and treatment with an Hsp90 inhibitor such as geldanamycin uniformly triggers their degradation (2). Degradation of the Hsp90-regulated signaling proteins occurs via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, which in this case is initiated by Hsp70-dependent E3 ubiquitin ligases, such as CHIP (3) and parkin (4).

The Hsp90/Hsp70-based chaperone machinery regulates the activity and degradation of many signaling proteins. Cycling with Hsp90 stabilizes client proteins, whereas Hsp70 interacts with chaperone-dependent E3 ubiquitin ligases to promote protein degradation. To probe these actions, small molecule inhibitors of Hsp70 would be extremely useful; however, few have been identified. Here we test the effects of methylene blue, a recently described inhibitor of Hsp70 ATPase activity, in three well established systems of increasing complexity. First, we demonstrate that methylene blue inhibits the ability of the purified Hsp90/Hsp70-based chaperone machinery to enable ligand binding by the glucocorticoid receptor and show that this effect is due to specific inhibition of Hsp70. Next, we establish that ubiquitination of neuronal nitric-oxide synthase by the native ubiquitinating system of reticulocyte lysate is dependent upon both Hsp70 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase CHIP and is blocked by methylene blue. Finally, we demonstrate that methylene blue impairs degradation of the polyglutamine expanded androgen receptor, an Hsp90 client mutated in spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy. In contrast, degradation of an amino-terminal fragment of the receptor, which lacks the ligand binding domain and, therefore, is not a client of the Hsp90/Hsp70-based chaperone machinery, is enhanced through homeostatic induction of autophagy that occurs when Hsp70-dependent proteasomal degradation is inhibited by methylene blue. Our data demonstrate the utility of methylene blue in defining Hsp70-dependent functions and reveal divergent effects on polyglutamine protein degradation depending on whether the substrate is an Hsp90 client.The Hsp90/Hsp70-based chaperone machinery that regulates a wide variety of Hsp90 "client" proteins (for review, see Ref. 1) is also a part of the cellular defense against unfolded proteins (2). In this machinery, Hsp90 and Hsp70 have opposing effects on client protein stability. Hsp90 stabilizes client proteins, and when their cycling with Hsp90 is blocked by specific Hsp90 inhibitors, like geldanamycin and radicicol, the client proteins undergo rapid degradation through the ubiquitin/ proteasome pathway (3). In contrast, Hsp70 along with its cochaperone Hsp40 is required for the degradation of many proteins (4, 5).Similar opposing roles of Hsp90 and Hsp70 are seen with signaling proteins that are classic Hsp90 client proteins like the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) 3 and with signaling proteins that undergo very dynamic cycling with Hsp90-like neuronal nitricoxide synthase (nNOS) (6). Opposing roles of Hsp90 and Hsp70 also regulate protein turnover in some of the polyglutamine expansion disorders. This group of neurodegenerative diseases is characterized by the accumulation of aberrant proteins and includes Huntington disease (HD), spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), and several autosomal-dominant spinocerebellar ataxias (e.g. SCA1, SCA3). Some of the mutant proteins that misfold and aggregate in these diseases, inc...

It is established that suicide inactivation of neuronal nitricoxide synthase (nNOS) by drugs and other xenobiotics leads to ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of the enzyme. The exact mechanism is not known, although it is widely thought that the covalent alteration of the active site during inactivation triggers the degradation. A mechanism that involves recognition of the altered nNOS by Hsp70 and its cochaperone CHIP, an E3-ubiquitin ligase, has been proposed. To further address how alterations of the active site trigger ubiquitination of nNOS, we examined a C331A nNOS mutant, which was reported to have impaired ability to bind L-arginine and tetrahydrobiopterin. We show here that C331A nNOS is highly susceptible to ubiquitination by a purified system containing ubiquitinating enzymes and chaperones, by the endogenous ubiquitinating system in reticulocyte lysate fraction II, and by intact HEK293 cells. The involvement of the altered heme cleft in regulating ubiquitination is confirmed by the finding that the slowly reversible inhibitor of nNOS, N G -nitro-L-arginine, but not its inactive D-isomer, protects the C331A nNOS from ubiquitination in all these experimental systems. We also show that both Hsp70 and CHIP play a major role in the ubiquitination of C331A nNOS, although Hsp90 protects from ubiquitination. Thus, these studies further strengthen the link between the mobility of the substrate-binding cleft and chaperone-dependent ubiquitination of nNOS. These results support a general model of chaperone-mediated protein quality control and lead to a novel mechanism for substrate stabilization based on nNOS interaction with the chaperone machinery.Nitric-oxide synthases (NOS) are cytochrome P450-like hemoprotein enzymes that catalyze the conversion of L-arginine to nitric oxide and citrulline by a process that requires NADPH and molecular oxygen (1). There are three major mammalian isoforms as follows: neuronal NOS (nNOS), 2 endothelial NOS, and inducible NOS. NOS is bidomain in structure with an oxygenase domain, which contains the binding site for the heme, L-arginine, and tetrahydrobiopterin, and a reductase domain, which contains the binding sites for FMN, FAD, and NADPH (2). NOS is a highly regulated enzyme requiring homodimerization and bound calmodulin for efficient electron transfer from the flavins to the heme moiety to enable synthesis of NO. Another mechanism of regulation is the ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of NOS (3). Of particular pharmacological interest is the finding that certain drugs cause the suicide inactivation, covalent alteration, ubiquitination, and proteasomal degradation of nNOS (3-8). This phenomenon is not unique to nNOS as it is well documented that the suicide inactivation of other P450 cytochromes leads to covalent alteration, enhanced ubiquitination, and proteasomal turnover of the enzymes (9). The C terminus of Hsc70-interacting protein (CHIP) has been shown to be an E3 ligase that ubiquitinates cytochromes P450 3A4 and 2E1 as well as nNOS (10 -12). The...

A series of substrate analogues has been used determine which chemical moieties of the substrate, phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) contribute to the allosteric inhibition of rabbit muscle pyruvate kinase (M1-PYK) by phenylalanine. Replacing the carboxyl group of the substrate with a methyl alcohol, or removing the phosphate altogether, greatly reduces substrate affinity. However, removal of the carboxyl group is the only modification tested that removes the ability to allosterically reduce Phe binding. From this, it can be concluded that the carboxyl group of PEP is responsible for energetic coupling with Phe binding in the allosteric sites.