Transcriptional regulation of the human hsp70 gene in response to heat shock and other forms of physiological stress occurs through the activation of heat shock transcription factor (HSF). Exposure of cells to a heat shock temperature of 42 degrees C results in transient activation of HSF; its DNA-binding activity increases rapidly, plateaus, and attenuates, during which the intracellular level...

Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) protects cultured motor neurons from the toxic effects of mutations in Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD-1), which is responsible for a familial form of the disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, the endogenous heat shock response of motor neurons was investigated to determine whether a high threshold for activating this protective mechanism contributes ...

Tumor and viral antigens elicit a potent immune response by heat shock protein-dependent uptake of antigenic peptide with subsequent presentation by MHC I. Receptors on antigen-presenting cells that specifically bind and internalize a heat shock protein-peptide complex have not yet been identified. Here, we show that cells expressing CD40, a cell surface protein crucial for B cell function and ...

BACKGROUND Under stress, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) plays a central role in energy balance, and the heat shock response is a protective mechanism for cell survival. The relationship between AMPK activity and heat shock protein (HSP) expression under stress is unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We found that heat stress induced dephosphorylation of AMPKα subunit (AMPKα) in variou...

Partial clones of the Sarcophaga crassipalpis heat shock protein 70 (hsp70) and of heat shock cognate 70 (hsc70) were developed by RT-PCR and library screening respectively. These clones were used to probe total RNA northern blots for the expression of transcripts in response to high and low temperature stress and in conjunction with the entry into an overwintering pupal diapause. In nondiapaus...

Rationale: The human ether-a-go-go–related gene (hERG) encodes the subunit of the potassium current IKr. It is highly expressed in cardiomyocytes and its mutations cause long QT syndrome type 2. Heat shock protein (Hsp)70 is known to promote maturation of hERG. Hsp70 and heat shock cognate (Hsc70) 70 has been suggested to play a similar function. However, Hsc70 has recently been reported to cou...

Mouse Hsp70 (70 kDa heat shock protein) is preferentially induced by heat or stress stimuli. We previously found that Hsp70 is constitutively expressed in A6 mouse mesoangioblast stem cells, but its possible role in these cells and the control of its basal transcription remained unexplored. Here we report that in the absence of stress, Ku factor is able to bind the HSE (heat shock element) cons...

BACKGROUND Chickens are animals that are sensitive to thermal stress, which may decrease their production level in terms that it affects feed intake and thus, decreasing body weight gain. The Heat Shock Factors (HSF) and Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) genes are involved in the key cellular defense mechanisms during exposure in hot environments. Aimed with this study to analyze the expression of HSF1...

We examined whether western fence lizards Sceloporus occidentalis occurring in thermally divergent environments display differential responses to high temperature in locomotor performance and heat-shock protein (Hsp) expression. We measured maximum sprint speed in S. occidentalis from four populations at paired latitudes and elevations before and after exposure to an experimental heat treatment...

RATIONALE The human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) encodes the α subunit of the potassium current I(Kr). It is highly expressed in cardiomyocytes and its mutations cause long QT syndrome type 2. Heat shock protein (Hsp)70 is known to promote maturation of hERG. Hsp70 and heat shock cognate (Hsc70) 70 has been suggested to play a similar function. However, Hsc70 has recently been reported to ...