HspX promotes the polar localization of mycobacterial protein aggregates

Misfolding of translated proteins occurs in all domains of life. In most cells, misfolded proteins coalesce in discrete aggregates at distinct cellular locations. In many bacteria, including mycobacteria, protein aggregates are located at the cellular pole. Yet the mechanism by which aggregates are sorted to the mycobacterial pole is not known. Here, we show that in Mycobacterium smegmatis, the small heat shock protein HspX plays a critical role in the polar localization of aggregates of a model fluorescent misfolded protein, GLR103. HspX itself has a polar localization, which is dependent on its N-terminal domain. In a strain deleted for hspX, GLR103 is less liable to aggregation and no longer localizes to the pole, and redirecting HspX to the septum radically disrupts the normal polar localization of GLR103 aggregates. To further investigate the role of HspX in native protein aggregation, we performed semi-quantitative mass-spectrometry of mycobacterial protein aggregates in wild-type, hspX-deleted and hspX-overexpressing strains. We identified a subset of proteins that appeared to be HspX-dependent for aggregate formation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that for validated native protein aggregates, sorting to the cellular pole following proteotoxic stress required HspX. In summary, we have identified the cellular function of HspX in Mycobacterium smegmatis as both a pro-aggregase and polar sortase.