Hop (protein)

Hop (occasionally HOP) is the Hsp70-Hsp90 organizing protein. It functions as a co-chaperone which reversibly links together the protein chaperones Hsp70 and Hsp90.

Introduction
HOP (the abbreviation stands for Hsp70/Hsp90 Organizing Protein) belongs to the large group of co-chaperones, which regulate and assist the major chaperones (mainly heat shock proteins). It is one of the best studied co-chaperones of the Hsp70/Hsp90-complex. It was first discovered in yeast and homologues were identified in human, mouse, rat, insects, plants, parasites, and virus. The family of these proteins is referred to as STI1 (stress inducible protein) and can be divided into yeast, plant, and animal STI1 (Hop).

Gene name and Structure
The gene for human Hop is located on chromosome 11q13.1 and consists of 14 exons.

STI proteins are characterized by some structural features: All homologues have nine tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) motifs, that are clustered into domains of three TPRs. The TPR motif is a very common structural feature used by many proteins and provides the ability of directing protein-protein interactions. Crystallographic structural information is available for the N-terminal TPR1 and the central TPR2A domains in complex with Hsp90 resp. Hsp70 ligand peptides.

Function
The main function of Hop is to link Hsp70 and Hsp90 together. But recent investigations indicate that it also modulates the chaperone activities of the linked proteins and possibly interacts with other chaperones and proteins. Apart from its role in the Hsp70/Hsp90 "chaperone machine" it seems to participate in other protein complexes too (for example in the signal transduction complex EcR/USP and in the Hepatitis B virus reverse transcriptase complex, which enables the viral replication). It acts as a receptor for prion proteins too. Hop is located in diverse cellular regions and also moves between the cytoplasm and the nucleus.