Nahid F. Mivechi

Heat shock proteins, thermotolerance, and their relevance to clinical hyperthermia

Mammalian cells, when exposed to a non-lethal heat shock, have the ability to acquire a transient resistance to subsequent exposures at elevated temperatures, a phenomenon termed thermotolerance. The mechanism(s) for the development of thermotolerance is not well understood, but earlier experimental evidence suggests that protein synthesis may play a role in its manifestation. On the molecular level, heat shock activates a specific set of genes, so-called heat shock genes, and results in the preferential synthesis of heat shock proteins. The heat shock response, specifically the regulation, expression and functions of heat shock proteins, has been extensively studied in the past decades and has attracted the attention of a wide spectrum of investigators ranging from molecular and cell biologists to radiation and hyperthermia oncologists. There is much data supporting the hypothesis that heat shock proteins play important roles in modulating cellular responses to heat shock, and are involved in the development of thermotolerance. This review summarizes some current knowledge on thermotolerance and the functions of heat shock proteins, especially hsp70. The relationship between thermotolerance development and hsp70 synthesis in tumours and in normal tissues is examined. The possibility of using hsp70 as an indicator for thermotolerance is discussed.

Over-expression of HSP-70 protects astrocytes from combined oxygen-glucose deprivation.

Pretreatment by a sublethal insult is associated with induction of stress proteins and with protection from subsequent injury. Heat pretreatment protects the brain from subsequent ischemia, and is shown here to protect primary astrocyte cultures from subsequent oxygen-glucose deprivation. To determine whether the expression of a single stress protein, HSP-70, could account for much of this protection, we expressed HSP-70 or β-galactosidase in astrocytes using retroviral vectors. Only 12% of astrocytes expressing HSP-70 died after 7 hours of oxygen-glucose deprivation compared to 65% of astrocytes expressing β-galactosidase and 82% of normal astrocytes. Our data provide direct evidence that selective expression of HSP-70 enhances the survival of astrocytes challenged with heat or oxygen-glucose deprivation.

The proinflammatory myeloid cell receptor TREM-1 controls Kupffer cell activation and development of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Chronic inflammation drives liver cancer pathogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. Liver Kupffer cells have crucial roles in mediating the inflammatory processes that promote liver cancer, but the mechanistic basis for their contributions are not fully understood. Here we show that expression of the proinflammatory myeloid cell surface receptor TREM-1 expressed by Kupffer cells is a crucial factor in the development and progression of liver cancer. Deletion of the murine homolog Trem1 in mice attenuated hepatocellular carcinogenesis triggered by diethylnitrosamine (DEN). Trem1 deficiency attenuated Kupffer cell activation by downregulating transcription and protein expression of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, TNF, CCL2, and CXCL10. In addition, Trem1 ablation diminished activation of the p38, extracellular regulated kinase 1/2, JNK, mitogen-activated protein kinase, and NF-κB signaling pathways in Kupffer cells, resulting in diminished liver injury after DEN exposure. Adoptive transfer of wild-type Kupffer cells to Trem1-deficient mice complemented these defects and reversed unresponsiveness to DEN-induced liver injury and malignant development. Together, our findings offer causal evidence that TREM-1 is a pivotal determinant of Kupffer cell activation in liver carcinogenesis, deepening mechanistic insights into how chronic inflammation underpins the development and progression of liver cancer.

Analysis of HSF-1 phosphorylation in A549 cells treated with a variety of stresses

In the absence of stress, heat shock transcription factor-1 (HSF-1) exists as a monomer. After the treatment of cells with variety of stresses, HSF-1 forms a trimer and binds to the heat shock element (HSE), a motif consisting of three consecutive NGAAN sequences located in an inverted orientation upstream of the heat shock genes. HSF-1 is then phosphorylated causing transactivation of heat shock mRNAs. Treatment of cells with some of the stresses has been shown to increase HSF binding to HSE without detectably increasing the synthesis of heat shock mRNAs. Here we used antibody specific to HSF-1 to detect its phosphorylation status following exposure of A549, a human lung carcinoma cell line to a variety of stresses in order to correlate HSF-1 phosphorylation with its transactivation ability. Our studies show that HSF-1 is phosphorylated following heat shock (43 degrees C for 1 h), hypoxia (5 h exposure to 0.02% oxygen), 8% ethanol (1 h exposure at 37 degrees C), or 200 microM sodium arsenite (1 h exposure at 37 degrees C). All such stresses have previously been shown to increase the synthesis of heat shock proteins (hsps). However, there are no detectable increases in HSF-1 phosphorylation after the treatment of cells with X-irradiation (2-8 Gy) or 100 microM canavanine, an amino acid analogue (1 h exposure at 37 degrees C). Treatment of cells with X-irradiation increases HSF binding to HSE without increasing the synthesis of hsps, while treatment of cells with canavanine has been shown to increase the synthesis of hsps.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Mechanism of heat shock protein 72 induction in primary cultured astrocytes after oxygen-glucose deprivation

Induction of stress proteins is thought to be important in the protection of cells from a variety of environmental insults including heat, hypoxia and ischemia. The aim of this study was to compare the mechanism of induction of heat shock protein 72 (HSP72) in primary cultures of murine cortical astrocytes by heat and combined oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD), a model of in vitro ischemia. 35S-methionine labeling and immunoblotting showed increased HSP72 synthesis and accumulation lasting for up to 24 h following heat or OGD. Heat induced a markedly greater amount of HSP72 mRNA and protein than did OGD. We then sought evidence of heat shock transcription factor-1 (HSF-1) activation. An increase in apparent molecular weight of nuclear HSF-1 after heat or OGD was observed, consistent with increased phosphorylation. To seek an explanation of the difference between heat and OGD as inducers of HSP72 we examined the binding activity of HSP72 + 73 to other proteins. More cellular protein was found to co-immunoprecipitate with HSP72 + 73, and more HSP72 + 73 was found in the pellet fraction after heat shock compared to OGD. These results suggest that HSP72 induction is regulated in astrocytes at least in part at the level of HSF activation, by both heat and OGD. Reduced availability of free HSP72 + 73 in heated cells could be responsible for the greater magnitude of HSP72 induction after heat compared to OGD.