DnaK

What is DNAK protein?

DNAK, originally identified for its DNA replication by bacteriophage l in E. coli is the bacterial Hsp70 chaperone. This protein is involved in the folding and assembly of newly synthesized polypeptide chains and in preventing the aggregation of stress-denatured proteins. DNAK is N-terminal ATPase domain and ATP bound to the ATPase domain induces a conformational change in the substrate binding domain (residues385-638). The protein coding region of the ATPase domain of DNAK (amino acids 1-384) was amplified by PCR and cloned into an E. coli expression vector. The DNAK protein is consisted of 384 amino acids and its molecular mass is approximately 41.6 kDa.

What is the function of DNAK protein?

DNAK belongs to the Hsp70 family and is involved in various cellular processes, including protein folding, assembly/disassembly of protein complexes, protein transport, and degradation. Specifically, DNAK assists in the folding of newly synthesized proteins, prevents protein aggregation, and helps in the refolding of denatured or misfolded proteins. It also interacts with other chaperone proteins and co-chaperones to regulate protein folding processes. In addition, DNAK plays a role in cellular stress responses and can be induced by heat shock or other environmental stresses to protect cells from protein damage and promote cell survival.

DNAK related Signaling pathways

There are no specific signaling pathways that have been directly attributed to DNAK protein. However, the activity of DNAK is regulated by various signaling pathways, such as the heat shock response pathway, which is activated in response to cellular stressors like high temperatures, oxidative stress, and exposure to toxins. Additionally, DNAK can be regulated by other signaling pathways involved in protein homeostasis. Furthermore, DNAK can interact with multiple signaling proteins and transcription factors, thereby influencing various cellular processes and signaling cascades indirectly.

Fig1. Human Phospho-Kinase Arrays for PC-3 and relative percentage increase of protein phosphorylation after 20 and 60 min of incubation with the exogenous and purified DnaK.

DNAK Related Diseases

No disease has been directly associated with DNAK. DNAK is mainly involved in the process of DNA replication, transcription and repair, and the change of its expression level may affect the growth and differentiation of cells. Therefore, DNAK may be involved in the occurrence and development of certain cancers. For example, several studies have shown that DNAK is expressed at significantly elevated levels in melanoma cells and that its overexpression correlates with tumor aggressiveness and prognosis. In addition, DNAK has also been found to be abnormally expressed in various tumors such as breast cancer and lung cancer.

Bioapplications of DNAK

DNAK protein can be used to develop novel drugs to treat diseases associated with protein folding abnormalities; The expression of DNAK protein is abnormally high in some types of cancer, therefore, DNAK protein can be used as a target for tumor therapy; DNAK protein can also be used to study the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases and the mechanism of heat shock response, and to develop novel therapeutic drugs.

Case Study 1: Ping Lu, 2023

Fig1. The growth of wild-type (WT) and ΔdnaK C. sakazakii strains, as well as the complementation of dnaK in the ΔdnaK strain (ΔdnaK-C), was monitored in LB medium at pH 7.0.

Case Study 2: Victor Tse, 2024

Fig2. SDS-PAGE analysis of rDnaK protein purification by IMAC with imidazole gradient elution.

DnaK has several biochemical functions, for example, . Some of the functions are cooperated with other proteins, some of the functions could acted by DnaK itself. We selected most functions DnaK had, and list some proteins which have the same functions with DnaK. You can find most of the proteins on our site.

DnaK has direct interactions with proteins and molecules. Those interactions were detected by several methods such as yeast two hybrid, co-IP, pull-down and so on. We selected proteins and molecules interacted with DnaK here. Most of them are supplied by our site. Hope this information will be useful for your research of DnaK.

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