FKBP51 and FKBP52 are diverse regulators of steroid hormone receptor signaling including regulation of receptor maturation, hormone binding, and nuclear translocation. Although structurally similar, they are functionally divergent, which is largely attributed to differences in the FK1 domain and the proline-rich loop. FKBP51 and FKBP52 have emerged as likely contributors to a variety of hormone-dependent diseases including stress-related diseases, immune function, reproductive functions and a variety of cancers. In addition, recent studies have implicated FKBP51 and FKBP52 in Alzheimer’s disease and other protein aggregation disorders. This review summarizes our current understanding of FKBP51 and FKBP52 interactions within the receptor-chaperone complex, their contributions to health and disease, and their potential as therapeutic targets for the treatment of these diseases.

Here, we also show that native GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes immunoadsorbed from L cell cytosol contain dynein and that GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes assembled in reticulocyte lysate contain cytoplasmic dynein in a manner that is competed by the PPIase domain of FKBP52.Steroid receptors move continuously into and out of the nucleus (Refs. 1-4; for review, see Ref. 5), and, depending upon the receptor, the hormone-free, untransformed receptor may have a predominantly nuclear or cytoplasmic localization. The hormone-free glucocorticoid receptor (GR) 1 is localized to the cytoplasm of most cells, and after steroid binding and transformation, it translocates to the nucleus (6 -8). Several studies with inhibitors suggest that the multiprotein hsp90-based chaperone system and the hsp90-binding immunophilin FKBP52 are involved in movement of the GR along microtubular tracks to the nucleus (for review, see Ref. 9). Assembly of receptors into heterocomplexes with hsp90 is a dynamic process (10), and it has been shown that the GR and hsp90 can move together from the cytoplasm to the nucleus (11). A couple of observations suggest that the role of hsp90 in receptor movement is likely to involve dynamic assembly and disassembly of GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes. For example, Yang and DeFranco (12) showed that molybdate, which binds to hsp90 and stabilizes GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes in vivo (13), traps the GR in the cytoplasm of cells continuously exposed to hormone. Molybdate in this case was thought to inhibit reimport of the GR into the nucleus by inhibiting the dynamic cycling of receptors into and out of their complexes with the hsp90 chaperone. Also, geldanamycin, an antibiotic that binds to the nucleotide binding site on hsp90 (14) and prevents formation of normal receptor⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes (15), impedes steroid-induced movement of the GR from the cytoplasm to the nucleus (16, 17).Some localization studies have shown the untransformed GR to colocalize with microtubules (for review, see Ref. 18), but the evidence supporting movement along microtubular tracks is indirect. Although microtubule disrupting agents, such as colcemid, do not affect the overall rate of steroid-dependent receptor translocation to the nucleus (8, 19), they eliminate the hsp90-dependent mode of receptor movement (17). Using a fusion protein of murine GR with Aequorea green fluorescent protein (GFP), we found that steroid-dependent GFP-GR translocation to the nucleus is rapid (t1 ⁄2 ϭ ϳ5 min) both in cells with intact cytoskeleton and in cells with disrupted cytoskeletal networks (17). However, in cells with normal cytoskeleton, the hsp90 inhibitor geldanamycin slowed translocation of the GFP-GR by an order of magnitude (t1 ⁄2 ϭ ϳ45 min), whereas in cells with colcemid-disrupted microtubules, geldanamycin had no effect on the translocation rate (t1 ⁄2 ϭ ϳ5 min). This suggests two mechanisms of GR movement. Under physiological conditions where the cytoskeleton is intact, diffusion is limited, and the GFP-GR utilizes a movement machinery in which the hsp90 heter...

Steroid receptors are recovered from hormone-free cells in multiprotein complexes containing hsp90, p23, an immunophilin, and often some hsp70. The immunophilin, which can be of the FK506-or cyclosporin Abinding class, binds to hsp90 via its tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domain, and different receptor heterocomplexes exist depending upon which immunophilin occupies the TPR-binding region of hsp90. We have recently reported that a protein serine/threonine phosphatase that is designated PP5 and contains four TPRs binds to hsp90 and is co-purified with the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) (Chen, M.-S., Silverstein, A. M., Pratt, W. B., and Chinkers, M. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 32315-32320). In this work, we show that PP5 is recovered with both GR that is nuclear and GR that is cytoplasmic in hormonefree cells. Approximately one-half of the GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes in L cell cytosol contains an immunophilin with high affinity FK506 binding activity, such as FKBP51 or FKBP52, and ϳ35% contains PP5. Only a small (but undetermined) fraction of the native GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes contain the cyclosporin Abinding immunophilin CyP-40. PP5, FKBP52, and CyP-40 exist in separate heterocomplexes with hsp90, and competition binding experiments with the PP5 TPR domain suggest that the three proteins occupy a common binding site on hsp90. A 55-residue connecting region between the N-terminal TPR domain of human PP5 and its C-terminal phosphatase domain has 50% amino acid homology and 22% identity with the central portion of the peptidylprolyl isomerase domain of human FKBP52. Of the 9 residues in this portion of FKBP52 involved in high affinity interactions with FK506, 3 residues are retained and 4 have homologous substitutions in PP5. Although immunoadsorbed PP5 did not bind [ 3 H]FK506, we found that both rabbit PP5 in reticulocyte lysate and purified rat PP5 were specifically retained by an FK506 affinity matrix. Thus, we propose that PP5 possesses properties of an immunophilin with low affinity FK506 binding activity and that it determines a major portion of the native GR heterocomplexes in L cell cytosol.In cytosols prepared from hormone-free cells, steroid receptors exist in multiprotein complexes that contain hsp90 1 and some hsp90-associated proteins, including p23 and some high molecular weight immunophilins (for review see Refs. 1 and 2). The immunophilins are ubiquitous and conserved proteins that bind immunosuppressant drugs, such as FK506 and cyclosporin A (for review see Ref.3). All members of the immunophilin family have peptidylprolyl isomerase (PPIase) activity, and there are two classes: the FKBPs that bind compounds like FK506 and rapamycin and the cyclophilins (CyPs) that bind cyclosporin A. The drugs bind to the isomerase site on the immunophilin and inhibit cis-trans isomerization in vitro (4).The low molecular weight immunophilins, such as FKBP12 and CyP-18, are thought to be the cellular components responsible for the immunosuppression and are the most studied. Three high molecular weight immunophilins, FK...

FKBP52 is a high molecular mass immunophilin possessing peptidylprolyl isomerase (PPIase) activity that is inhibited by the immunosuppressant drug FK506. FKBP52 is a component of steroid receptor⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes, and it binds to hsp90 via a region containing three tetratricopeptide repeats (TPRs). Here we demonstrate by cross-linking of the purified proteins that there is one binding site for FKBP52/dimer of hsp90. This accounts for the common heterotetrameric structure of native receptor heterocomplexes being 1 molecule of receptor, 2 molecules of hsp90, and 1 molecule of a TPR domain protein. Immunoadsorption of FKBP52 from reticulocyte lysate also yields co-immunoadsorption of cytoplasmic dynein, and we show that co-immunoadsorption of dynein is competed by a fragment of FKBP52 containing its PPIase domain, but not by a TPR domain fragment that blocks FKBP52 binding to hsp90. Using purified proteins, we also show that FKBP52 binds directly to the hsp90-free glucocorticoid receptor. Because neither the PPIase fragment nor the TPR fragment affects the binding of FKBP52 to the glucocorticoid receptor under conditions in which they block FKBP52 binding to dynein or hsp90, respectively, different regions of FKBP52 must determine its association with these three proteins.

Unliganded steroid receptors are assembled into heterocomplexes with heat-shock protein (hsp) 90 by a multiprotein chaperone machinery. In addition to binding the receptors at the chaperone site, hsp90 binds cofactors at other sites that are part of the assembly machinery, as well as immunophilins that connect the assembled receptor-hsp90 heterocomplexes to a protein trafficking pathway. The hsp90-/hsp70-based chaperone machinery interacts with the unliganded glucocorticoid receptor to open the steroid-binding cleft to access by a steroid, and the machinery interacts in very dynamic fashion with the liganded, transformed receptor to facilitate its translocation along microtubular highways to the nucleus. In the nucleus, the chaperone machinery interacts with the receptor in transcriptional regulatory complexes after hormone dissociation to release the receptor and terminate transcriptional activation. By forming heterocomplexes with hsp90, the chaperone machinery stabilizes the receptor to degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway of proteolysis.

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is recovered from hormone-free cells in a heterocomplex with the molecular chaperone hsp90, which is required to produce the proper folding state for steroid binding. GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplexes are formed by a multiprotein system that appears to exist in all eukaryotic cells. Recently, we have reconstituted a receptor⅐hsp90 heterocomplex assembly system with purified rabbit hsp90 and hsp70 and bacterially expressed human p23 and p60. We have shown that hsp90, p60, and hsp70 form an hsp90⅐p60⅐hsp70 complex that converts the GR from a non-steroid binding to a steroid binding form ( In the current work, we show that the purified rabbit hsp70 utilized in prior studies is contaminated with a small amount of the rabbit DnaJ homolog hsp40. Elimination of the hsp40 from the purified GR⅐hsp90 assembly system reduces assembly activity, and the activity is restored by addition of the purified yeast DnaJ homolog YDJ-1. hsp40 is a component of the hsp90⅐p60⅐hsp70 foldosome complex isolated from reticulocyte lysate with antibody against p60. Under conditions that promote binding of p23 to hsp90 (elevated temperature, ATP, Nonidet P-40, molybdate), a five-membered (p23⅐hsp90⅐p60⅐hsp70⅐hsp40) complex of chaperone proteins is formed in reticulocyte lysate or from purified proteins. The hsp40-free, purified assembly system has a modest level of assembly activity that is maximally potentiated by YDJ-1 when it is present at about one-twentieth the concentration of hsp70. Although hsp40 is not in the final GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplex isolated from L cell cytosol, it is in the GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplex assembled in reticulocyte lysate. We conclude that hsp40 is a component of the multiprotein hsp90-based chaperone system where it potentiates GR⅐hsp90 heterocomplex assembly.

In this study, we demonstrate that the subcellular localization of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) is regulated by tetratricopeptide domain (TPR) proteins. The high-molecular-weight immunophilin (IMM) FKBP52 links the MR-hsp90 complex to dynein/dynactin motors favoring the cytoplasmic transport of MR to the nucleus. Replacement of this hsp90-binding IMM by FKBP51 or the TPR peptide favored the cytoplasmic localization of MR. The complete movement machinery, including dynein and tubulin, could be recovered from paclitaxel/GTP-stabilized cytosol and was fully reassembled on stripped MR immune pellets. The whole MR-hsp90-based heterocomplex was transiently recovered in the soluble fraction of the nucleus after 10 min of incubation with aldosterone. Moreover, cross-linked MR-hsp90 heterocomplexes accumulated in the nucleus in a hormone-dependent manner, demonstrating that the heterocomplex can pass undissociated through the nuclear pore. On the other hand, a peptide that comprises the DNA-binding domain of MR impaired the nuclear export of MR, suggesting the involvement of this domain in the process. This study represents the first report describing the entire molecular system that commands MR nucleocytoplasmic trafficking and proposes that the MR-hsp90-TPR protein heterocomplex is dissociated in the nucleus rather than in the cytoplasm.The mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) is a member of the steroid/thyroid superfamily of nuclear receptors whose transcriptional activity is triggered by aldosterone binding under normal physiologic conditions. Polarized epithelial tissues such as the distal nephron and colon are considered the classical targets of mineralocorticoids to control salt-water balance by induction of sodium reabsorption and thereby regulation of extracellular fluid volume and blood pressure. MR expression and function also extend to nonepithelial cells, such as hippocampal and hypothalamic neurons, cardiomyocytes, vascular endothelium, and adipocytes (for recent reviews, see references 65 and 52 and references therein).MR shares considerable homology with the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), which is exemplified by the ability of some glucocorticoids to bind both receptors. It is now well established (45) that the GR (the best-studied member of the family) forms heterocomplexes with the 90-kDa and 70-kDa heat shock proteins (hsp90 and hsp70, respectively), the acidic protein p23, and proteins that possess sequences of 34 amino acids repeated in tandems, the tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) proteins. Some of these hsp90-binding TPR proteins have peptidylprolyl-isomerase activity and are intracellular receptors for immunosuppressant drugs such as FK506, rapamycin, and cyclosporine. They belong to the relatively conserved large family of proteins known as immunophilins (IMMs) (48). Among the members of this family, some IMMs have been recovered in steroid receptor-hsp90 complexes, i.e., FKBP52, FKBP51, CyP40, and three IMM-like proteins, protein phosphatase 5 (PP5), XAP2/ARA9, and WISp39 (33, 44). Even though th...

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is cytoplasmic in the absence of ligand and localizes to the nucleus after steroid binding. Previous evidence demonstrated that the hsp90-based heterocomplex bound to GR is required for the efficient retrotransport of the receptor to the nuclear compartment. We examined the putative association of GR and its associated chaperone heterocomplex with structures of the nuclear pore. We found that importin ␤ and the integral nuclear pore glycoprotein Nup62 interact with hsp90, hsp70, p23, and the TPR domain proteins FKBP52 and PP5. Nup62 and GR were able to interact in a more efficient manner when chaperoned by the hsp90-based heterocomplex. Interestingly, the binding of hsp70 and p23 to Nup62 does not require the presence of hsp90, whereas the association of FKBP52 and PP5 is hsp90 dependent, as indicated by the results of experiments where the hsp90 function was disrupted with radicicol. The ability of both FKBP52 and PP5 to interact with Nup62 was abrogated in cells overexpressing the TPR peptide. Importantly, GR cross-linked to the hsp90 heterocomplex was able to translocate to the nucleus in digitonin-permeabilized cells treated with steroid, suggesting that GR could pass through the pore in its untransformed state.Glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor that belongs to the nuclear receptor superfamily. GR controls a large variety of physiological functions, such as metabolism, development, differentiation, and reproduction (27). In the absence of steroid, GR is primarily located in the cytoplasm of several cell types (4,15,20,50,51). Upon hormone binding, GR rapidly translocates to its sites of action in the nucleus.GR exists as an oligomer associated with hsp90, hsp70, p23, and one hsp90-binding TPR (tetratricopeptide repeat) protein (43), this heterocomplex being essential for steroid binding since the chaperones maintain GR in a folded, competent state. hsp90 interacts with TPR proteins, such as the high-molecular-weight immunophilins (IMMs) FKBP51 and FKBP52, Cyp40, and the IMM-like Ser/Thr-phosphatase PP5, and other cochaperones, such as Hop and Tpr2. The hsp90-TPR interaction is highly conserved and takes place in many molecular arrays from the animal and plant kingdoms (1,11,25,33,44).The cytoplasmic movement of GR and other steroid receptors toward the nucleus is thought to be achieved by two different mechanisms. The most efficient mechanism is rapid (half-life, ϳ5 min) and depends on the hsp90-FKBP52-based heterocomplex (10,16,21,26,40). The alternative mechanism is hsp90 independent and translocates the receptor to the nucleus with a half-life equal to 40 to 60 min, which allows the formation of degradasomes and the subsequent targeting of the receptor to proteasomal degradation (15). In contrast to the rapidity of the steroid-dependent retrograde movement, GR cycles back very slowly to the cytoplasm (half-life, ϳ8 to 12 h) upon steroid withdrawal (18).Regardless of the primary subcellular localization, all steroid receptors and most of the...