DnaK, an Hsp70 molecular chaperone, processes its substrates in an ATP-driven cycle, which is controlled by the cochaperones DnaJ and GrpE. The kinetic analysis of substrate binding and release has as yet been limited to fluorescence-labeled peptides. Here, we report a comprehensive kinetic analysis of the chaperone action with protein substrates. The kinetic partitioning of the (ATP⅐DnaK)⅐substrate complexes between dissociation and conversion into stable (ADP⅐DnaK)⅐substrate complexes is determined by DnaJ. In the case of substrates that allow the formation of ternary (ATP⅐DnaK)⅐substrate⅐DnaJ complexes, the cis-effect of DnaJ markedly accelerates ATP hydrolysis. This triage mechanism efficiently selects from the (ATP⅐DnaK)⅐substrate complexes those to be processed in the chaperone cycle; at 45°C, the fraction of protein complexes fed into the cycle is 20 times higher than that of peptide complexes. The thermosensor effect of the ADP/ATP exchange factor GrpE retards the release of substrate from the cycle at higher temperatures; the fraction of total DnaK in stable (ADP⅐DnaK)⅐substrate complexes is 2 times higher at 45°C than at 25°C. Monitoring the cellular situation by DnaJ as nonnative protein sensor and GrpE as thermosensor thus directly adapts the operational mode of the DnaK system to heat shock conditions. Molecular chaperones of the 70-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp70) 2 family assist folding and refolding of nascent and stress-denatured proteins, assembly and disassembly of protein complexes, and translocation of polypeptide chains across membranes. All of these activities appear to rely on the transient interaction of Hsp70 with short hydrophobic segments of their protein substrates. The cycle of substrate binding and release is driven by the hydrolysis of ATP. DnaK, an Hsp70 homolog in Escherichia coli, consists of a 44-kDa NH 2 -terminal ATPase domain (1, 2) and a 25-kDa COOH-terminal substratebinding domain (3). Hydrolysis of DnaK-bound ATP and ADP/ ATP exchange control the functional properties of the substrate-binding domain (4). ATP-liganded DnaK (T-state DnaK) exhibits low affinity for substrates and fast rates of binding and release, whereas ADP-liganded (R-state) DnaK is characterized by high substrate affinity and slow kinetics (5, 6). DnaK acts in concert with two co-chaperones (Fig. 1). DnaJ, an Hsp40 homolog, stimulates the hydrolysis of ATP and thus promotes the formation of high affinity (ADP⅐DnaK)⅐substrate complexes, whereas GrpE facilitates the exchange of ADP for ATP and thus triggers the release of substrate from the cycle (7-9).Fluorescence-labeled peptides have allowed the kinetic analysis of the formation of DnaK⅐peptide complexes (6). With protein substrates, however, no kinetic data have been reported to date, DnaK⅐protein complexes having solely been examined by size exclusion chromatography (5), by nondenaturing gel electrophoresis (2), and by measuring fluorescence anisotropy under steady-state conditions (10).A major question in the field of molecular chaperones is how targe...