Hsp90 Co-chaperones Form Plastic Genetic Networks Adapted to Client Maturation

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a molecular chaperone regulating the activity of diverse client proteins together with a plethora of different co-chaperones. Whether these functionally cooperate has remained enigmatic. We analyze all double mutants of 11 Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hsp90 co-chaperones in vivo concerning effects on cell physiology and the activation of specific client proteins. We find that client activation is supported by a genetic network with weak epistasis between most co-chaperones and a few modules with strong genetic interactions. These include an epistatic module regulating protein translation and dedicated epistatic networks for specific clients. For kinases, the bridging of Hsp70 and Hsp90 by Sti1/Hop is essential for activation, whereas for steroid hormone receptors, an epistatic module regulating their dwell time on Hsp90 is crucial, highlighting the specific needs of different clients. Thus, the Hsp90 system is characterized by plastic co-chaperone networks fine-tuning the conformational processing in a client-specific manner.