Functional analysis of the yeast 40 kDa cyclophilin cyp40 and its role for viability and steroid receptor regulation

We have identified and characterized a homolog of the 40 kDa cyclophilins in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. At the amino acid level, this novel yeast cyclophilin, termed Cyp40, is 47% identical to human cyclophilin-40. Recombinant Cyp40 produced in bacteria has a peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity with a catalytic efficiency (k(cat)/K-m) of 0.5 x 10(6) M-1 s(-1), which can be inhibited by cyclosporin A with an IC50 value of 60 nM. Using a polyclonal antibody against Cyp40 we have found that Cyp40 is predominantly cytoplasmic, and that its expression is induced 3-4-fold by heat shock. Moreover, Cyp40 can be coprecipitated from yeast extracts with the cytosolic molecular chaperone Hsp90. Surprisingly, a Cyp40-deficient yeast strain is fully viable at normal and elevated temperatures. Cyp40 is also dispensable for normal regulation of vertebrate steroid receptors in yeast. While other immunophilins could conceivably compensate a Cyp40 defect, our results are compatible with the notion that immunophilins may be fortuitous partners in the biochemically established steroid receptor-Hsp90 complex.