Ankyrin-B Interacts with the C-terminal Region of Hsp40

Ankyrins are a ubiquitously expressed family of intracellular adaptor proteins involved in targeting diverse proteins to specialized membrane domains in both the plasma membrane and the endoplasmic reticulum. Canonical ankyrins are 190-220 kDa proteins expressed in most tissues and cell types and comprise a membrane-binding domain (MBD) of 24 ANK repeats, a spectrin-binding domain, a death domain and a C-terminal domain. Rescue studies with ankyrin-B/G chimeras have identified the C-terminal domain of ankyrin-B as the defining domain in specifying ankyrin-B activity, but the function of C-terminal domain of ankyrin-B is, however, not known. We report here that the C-terminal domain of ankyrin-B is capable of interacting with the C-terminal Region of Hsp40. The Hsps are induced not only by heat shock but also by various other environmental stresses. Hsps are also expressed constitutively at normal growth temperatures and have basic and indispensable functions in the life cycle of proteins as molecular chaperones, as well as playing a role in protecting cells from the deleterious stresses. The binding sites required in the interaction between C-terminal domain of ankyrin-B and C-terminal region of Hsp40 were characterized using the yeast two-hybrid system and GST-pull down assay. The interaction between ankyrin-B and Hsp40 represents the first direct evidence of ankyrin's role as chaperones.