The initiation of Aspergillus fumigatus infection occurs via dormant conidia deposition into the airways. Therefore, conidial germination and subsequent hyphal extension and growth occur in a sustained heat shock (HS) environment promoted by the host. The cell wall integrity pathway (CWIP) and the essential eukaryotic chaperone Hsp90 are critical for fungi to survive HS. Although A. fumigatus is a thermophilic fungus, the mechanisms underpinning the HS response are not thoroughly described and important to define its role in pathogenesis, virulence and antifungal drug responses. Here, we investigate the contribution of the CWIP in A. fumigatus thermotolerance. We observed that the CWIP components PkcA, MpkA and RlmA are Hsp90 clients and that a PkcAG579R mutation abolishes this interaction. PkcAG579R also abolishes MpkA activation in the short‐term response to HS. Biochemical and biophysical analyses indicated that Hsp90 is a dimeric functional ATPase, which has a higher affinity for ADP than ATP and prevents MpkA aggregation in vitro. Our data suggest that the CWIP is constitutively required for A. fumigatus to cope with the temperature increase found in the mammalian lung environment, emphasising the importance of this pathway in supporting thermotolerance and cell wall integrity.

Mitochondrial Hsp70 is involved in both protein import and folding process, among other essential functions. In mammalian cells, due to its role in the malignant process, it receives the name of mortalin. Despite its importance in protein and mitochondrial homeostasis, mortalin tends to self-aggregate in vitro and in vivo, the later leads to mitochondrial biogenesis failure. Recently, a zinc-finger protein, named Hsp70-escort protein 1 (Hep1, also called Zim17/TIM15/DNLZ), was described as an essential human mitochondrial mortalin co-chaperone which avoids its self-aggregation. Here, we report structural studies of the human Hep1 (hHep1). The results indicate that hHep1 shares some structural similarities with the yeast ortholog despite the low identity and functional differences. We also observed that hHep1 oligomerizes in a concentration-dependent fashion and that the zinc ion, which is essential for hHep1 in vivo function, has an important protein-structure stabilizing effect.

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