SGT, a Hsp90β binding partner, is accumulated in the nucleus during cell apoptosis

In this study, we reported that small glutamine-rich TPR-containing protein (SGT) interacted with not only Hsp90α but also Hsp90β. Confocal analysis showed that treatment of cells with Hsp90-specific inhibitor geldanamycin (GA) disrupted the interaction of SGT with Hsp90β and this contributed to the increase of nuclear localization of SGT in HeLa cells. The increased nuclear localization of SGT was further confirmed by the Western blotting in GA-treated HeLa cells and H1299 cells. In our previous study, SGT was found to be a new pro-apoptotic factor, so we wondered whether the sub-cellular localization of SGT was related with cell apoptosis. By confocal analysis we found that the nuclear import of SGT was significantly increased in STS-induced apoptotic HeLa cells, which implied that the sub-cellular localization of SGT was closely associated with Hsp90β and apoptosis.