SUMMARY: BACKGROUND: Escherichia coli induces the heat shock response to a temperature up-shift which is connected to the synthesis of a characteristic set of proteins, including ATP dependent chaperones and proteases. Therefore the balance of the nucleotide pool is important for the adaptation and continuous function of the cell. Whereas it has been observed in eukaryotic cells, that the ATP l...

Recombinant human interferon alpha 2a (rhIFN α -2a) production and cell growth were monitored in a set of genetically modified E. coli strains (MSD1519, MSD1520, MSD 1521, MSD 1522, MSD 1523) producing rhIFN α -2a. The growth was followed at OD 600 nm, changes in cell physiology were detected by pyrolysis mass spectrometry (PyMS) of cell biomass and recombinant protein production was determined...

We studied adaptive thermotolerance in replicate populations of Drosophila melanogaster artificially selected for high and low knockdown temperature (T(KD)), the upper temperature at which flies can no longer remain upright or locomote effectively. Responses to selection have generated High T(KD) populations capable of maintaining locomotor function at approximately 40 degrees C, and Low T(KD) ...

Heat shock protects against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury possibly via increased expression of heat shock proteins. The direct evidence of heat shock protein protection in vivo remains circumstantial, and no other new mechanism of protection has been proposed. Recent studies suggest that opening of ATP-sensitive K+ channels (KATP channels) plays an important role in ischemic preconditi...

Cold hardening treatment - a brief exposure to low temperatures - can protect certain insects against subsequent exposure to temperatures sufficiently low to cause damage or lethality. Microarray analysis to examine the changes in transcript abundance associated with cold hardening treatment (0 degrees C for 2 h followed by 30 min recovery at 25 degrees C) was undertaken in Drosophila melanogas...

A Bacillus subtilis disruption mutant with a mutation in sigI (formerly ykoZ) shows a temperature-sensitive growth on agar plates. The transcription of the sigI gene is heat shock induced in rich medium but not in minimal medium. Proteome studies revealed a reduced amount of GsiB protein in the sigI mutant under heat shock conditions.

Replication arrests due to the lack or the inhibition of replicative helicases are processed by recombination proteins. Consequently, cells deficient in the Rep helicase, in which replication pauses are frequent, require the RecBCD recombination complex for growth. rep recA mutants are viable and display no growth defect at 37 or 42 degrees C. The putative role of chaperone proteins in rep and ...

One of the most important questions in cell biology is how cells cope with rapid changes in their environment. The range of common molecular responses includes a dramatic change in the pattern of gene expression and the elevated synthesis of so-called heat shock (or stress) proteins (HSPs). Induction of HSPs increases cell survival under stress conditions [Morimoto, R.I., 1993. Cells in stress:...