ClpL Chaperone as a Possible Component of the Disaggregase Activity of U-21.

The U-21 strain, known for secreting chaperones into the extracellular milieu, emerges as a promising candidate for the development of novel therapeutics termed disaggregases for Parkinson's disease. Our study focuses on characterizing the secreted protein encoded by the C0965_000195 locus in the genome of this strain. Through sequence analysis and structural predictions, the protein encoded by C0965_000195 is identified as ClpL, homologs of which are known for their chaperone functions. The chaperone activity of ClpL from U-21 is investigated by assessing the refolding of luciferases with varying thermostabilities from and within cells. The results indicate that the gene from U-21 can compensate for the absence of the gene, enhancing the refolding capacity of thermodenatured proteins in -deficient cells. experiments demonstrate that both spent culture medium containing proteins secreted by U-21 cells, including ClpL, and purified heterologically expressed ClpL partially prevent the thermodenaturation of luciferases. The findings suggest that the ClpL protein from U-21, exhibiting disaggregase properties against aggregating proteins, may represent a key component contributing to the pharmabiotic attributes of this strain.