Novel 30 kDa protein possessing ATP-binding and chaperone activities.

A 30 kDa protein was purified from pig liver cytosol by using ATP-Sepharose and Green A column chromatography. The partial amino acid sequences of the protein (95 amino acid residues) had no similarity with any proteins recorded in data banks. The protein was able to form a stable complex with unfolded dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). The spontaneous refolding of chemically denatured DHFR was arrested by the 30 kDa protein. This inhibition presumably results from the formation of a stable complex between the 30 kDa protein and DHFR. Bound DHFR could be released from the protein with ATP. The protein also showed protease resistance in an ATP-dependent manner. Incubation of the 30 kDa protein with 5 mM ATP resulted in its resistance to V8 protease or to trypsin treated with 1-chloro-4-phenyl-3-L-toluene-p-sulphonamidobutan-2-one. Divalent cations enhanced the ATP-protection effect. CD analysis of the 30 kDa protein showed that ATP induced an increase in the beta-pleated sheet content and a decrease in the alpha-helix content of the 30 kDa protein. These results suggest that the 30 kDa protein, a novel cytosolic protein, might have an affinity for ATP, a chaperonin activity, and and an ATP-protection effect against some proteases in vivo.