The balanced regulation of Hsc70 by DNJ-13 and UNC-23 is required for muscle functionality

The molecular chaperone Hsc70 assists in the folding of non-native proteins together with its J domain- and BAG domain-containing cofactors. In Caenorhabditis elegans, two BAG domain-containing proteins can be identified, one of them being UNC-23, whose mutation induces severe motility dysfunctions. Using reporter strains, we find that the full-length UNC-23, in contrast to C-terminal fragments, localizes specifically to the muscular attachment sites. C-terminal fragments of UNC-23 instead perform all Hsc70-related functions, like ATPase stimulation and regulation of folding activity, albeit with lower affinity than BAG-1. Interestingly, overexpression of CFP-Hsc70 can induce muscular defects in wild-type nematodes that phenocopy the knockout of its cofactor UNC-23. Strikingly, the motility dysfunction in the unc-23 mutated strain can be cured specifically by down-regulation of the antagonistic Hsc70 cochaperone DNJ-13, implying that the severe phenotype is caused by misregulation of the Hsc70 cycle. These findings point out that the balanced action of cofactors in the ATP-driven cycle of Hsc70 is crucial for the contribution of Hsc70 to muscle functionality.