A Drosophila ortholog of the human MRJ modulates polyglutamine toxicity and aggregation

In the Drosophila eye, proteins with an expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) tract form nuclear and cytoplasmic inclusions and produce cytotoxicity, demonstrated as loss of eye pigmentation and structural integrity. An EP P-element that suppressed the loss of eye pigmentation was inserted 9.7 kb upstream of dmrj, a gene that encodes an ortholog of a brain-enriched cochaperone, the human MRJ (mammalian relative of DnaJ). Despite the large distance between them, quantitative polymerase chain reaction indicated that the EP could overexpress dmrj. In the retina and other neurons, transgenic dMRJ suppressed polyQ toxicity and colocalized with its inclusions. In the photoreceptors, expression of another suppressor with a J domain, dHDJ1, but not dMRJ, prior to expression of expanded polyQs dramatically promoted cytoplasmic aggregation. However, both proteins increased the level of detergent-soluble, monomeric polyQ-expanded proteins. These findings exemplify the functional similarities and differences between J domain proteins in suppressing polyQ toxicity.