Functional Interplay between P5 and PDI/ERp72 to Drive Protein Folding

P5 is one of protein disulfide isomerase family proteins (PDIs) involved in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) protein quality control that assists oxidative folding, inhibits protein aggregation, and regulates the unfolded protein response. P5 reportedly interacts with other PDIs via intermolecular disulfide bonds in cultured cells, but it remains unclear whether complex formation between P5 and other PDIs is involved in regulating enzymatic and chaperone functions. Herein, we established the far-western blot method to detect non-covalent interactions between P5 and other PDIs and found that PDI and ERp72 are partner proteins of P5. The enzymatic activity of P5-mediated oxidative folding is up-regulated by PDI, while the chaperone activity of P5 is stimulated by ERp72. These findings shed light on the mechanism by which the complex formations among PDIs drive to synergistically accelerate protein folding and prevents aggregation. This knowledge has implications for understanding misfolding-related pathology.