A minimal system of five proteins, hsp90, hsp70, Hop, hsp40, and p23, assembles glucocorticoid receptor (GR)⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes and causes the simultaneous opening of the steroid binding cleft to access by steroid. The first step in assembly is the ATP-dependent and hsp40 (YDJ-1)-dependent formation of a GR⅐hsp70 complex that primes the receptor for subsequent ATPdependent activation by hsp90, Hop, and p23. This study focuses on three aspects of the GR priming reaction with hsp70. First, we have visualized the primed GR⅐hsp70 complexes by atomic force microscopy, and we find the most common stoichiometry to be 1:1, with some complexes of a size~1:2 and a few complexes of larger size. Second, in a recent study of progesterone receptor priming, it was shown that hsp40 binds first, leading to the notion that it targets hsp70 to the receptor. We show here that hsp40 does not perform such a targeting function in priming the GR. Third, we focus on a short amino-terminal segment of the ligand binding domain that is required for GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplex assembly. By using two glutathione S-transferase (GST)/ligand binding domain fusions with (GST/520C) and without (GST/ 554C) hsp90 binding and steroid binding activity, we show that the priming step with hsp70 occurs with GST/ 554C, and it is the subsequent assembly step with hsp90 that is defective.Glucocorticoid receptors (GR) 1 are recovered from hormonefree cells as large multiprotein complexes containing a dimer of hsp90 (for review see Refs. 1 and 2). Hsp90 binds to the ligand binding domain (LBD) of the GR, and the steroid binding activity of the GR is absolutely hsp90-dependent (3, 4). When the GR is stripped of its associated hsp90, it immediately loses its ability to bind steroid, and steroid binding activity is regenerated when GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes are reformed by the hsp90/hsp70-based chaperone machinery (5, 6). The steroids bind deep in a hydrophobic cleft that appears to be collapsed in the absence of ligand, such that the LBD must change its conformation to allow entry of ligand (7). The hsp90/hsp70-dependent chaperone machinery carries out the ATP-dependent opening of the binding cleft in the GR LBD such that it can be accessed by steroid. In addition to opening the steroid binding cleft, formation of a complex with hsp90 is accompanied by conformational changes that increase the sensitivity of the GR LBD to attack by thiol-derivatizing agents and trypsin (8 -10).The multiprotein chaperone machinery that forms receptor⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes was originally identified in reticulocyte lysate (11,12). This machinery has been reconstituted (13), and a mixture of five purified proteins (hsp90, hsp70, 2 Hop, hsp40, and p23) is now used to achieve efficient receptor⅐hsp90 heterocomplex assembly (14, 15). The chaperones hsp90 and hsp70 are both essential for opening the steroid binding cleft in the GR LBD, and hsp40, Hop (hsp70/hsp90 organizing protein), and p23 act as co-chaperones to increase the rate or extent of GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplex assembly (16). Hop b...