Heat stress-induced H2O2 is required for effective expression of heat shock genes in Arabidopsis

The mechanisms of sensing and signalling of heat and oxidative stresses are not well understood. The central question of this paper is whether in plant cells oxidative stress, in particular H₂O₂, is required for heat stress- and heat shock factor (HSF)-dependent expression of genes. Heat stress increases intracellular accumulation of H₂O₂ in Arabidopsis cell culture. The accumulation was greatly diminished using ascorbate as a scavenger or respectively diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPI) as an inhibitor of reactive oxygen species production. The mRNA of heat shock protein (HSP) genes, exemplified by Hsp17.6, Hsp18.2, and the two cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase genes Apx1, Apx2, reached similar levels by moderate heat stress (37°C) or by treatment with H₂O₂, butylperoxide and diamide at room temperature. The heat-induced expression levels were significantly reduced in the presence of ascorbate or DPI indicating that H₂O₂ is an essential component in the heat stress signalling pathway. Rapid (15 min) formation of heat shock promoter element (HSE) protein-binding complex of high molecular weight in extracts of heat-stressed or H₂O₂-treated cells and the inability to form this complex after ascorbate treatment suggests that oxidative stress affects gene expression via HSF activation and conversely, that H₂O₂ is involved in HSF activation during the early phase of heat stress. The heat stress induction of a high mobility HSE-binding complex, characteristic for later phase of heat shock response, was blocked by ascorbate and DPI. H₂O₂ was unable to induce this complex suggesting that H₂O₂ is involved only in the early stages of HSF activation. Significant induction of the genes tested after diamid treatment and moderate expression of the sHSP genes in the presence of 50 mM ascorbate at 37°C occurred without activation of HSF, indicating that other mechanisms may be involved in stress signalling. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at http//dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11103-006-0045-4 Roman A. Volkov and Irina I. Panchuk contributed equally     

Gambogic acid and gambogenic acid induce a thiol-dependent heat shock response and disrupt the interaction between HSP90 and HSF1 or HSF2

Cancer cells rely on heat shock proteins (HSPs) for growth and survival. Especially HSP90 has multiple client proteins and plays a critical role in malignant transformation, and therefore different types of HSP90 inhibitors are being developed. The bioactive natural compound gambogic acid (GB) is a prenylated xanthone with antitumor activity, and it has been proposed to function as an HSP90 inhibitor. However, there are contradicting reports whether GB induces a heat shock response (HSR), which is cytoprotective for cancer cells and therefore a potentially problematic feature for an anticancer drug. In this study, we show that GB and a structurally related compound, called gambogenic acid (GBA), induce a robust HSR, in a thiol-dependent manner. Using heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) or HSF2 knockout cells, we show that the GB or GBA-induced HSR is HSF1-dependent. Intriguingly, using closed form ATP-bound HSP90 mutants that can be co-precipitated with HSF1, a known facilitator of cancer, we show that also endogenous HSF2 co-precipitates with HSP90. GB and GBA treatment disrupt the interaction between HSP90 and HSF1 and HSP90 and HSF2. Our study implies that these compounds should be used cautiously if developed for cancer therapies, since GB and its derivative GBA are strong inducers of the HSR, in multiple cell types, by involving the dissociation of a HSP90-HSF1/HSF2 complex.     

热休克因子1基因剔除对小鼠生长繁殖的影响

目的观察HSF1基因剔除对小鼠生长、繁殖的影响。方法用HSF1基因剔除纯合子、杂合子和野生型小鼠建立交配对,HSF1基因正常繁殖组（简称HSF1正常组）30对、HSF1基因缺陷繁殖组（简称HSF1缺陷组）72对。观察母鼠产仔数、生产胎数、每胎产仔数、成年鼠体重。结果HSF1缺陷组母鼠平均产仔数（13.00±11.50）较少,与HSF1正常组（26.46±16.02）比较差异有显著性（P〈0.01）。HSF1缺陷组母鼠每胎产仔数（4.65±2.33）亦较少,与HSF1正常组（7.56±3.08）比较差异有显著性（P〈0.01）。HSF1缺陷组母鼠平均生产胎数（2.79±2.64）与HSF1正常组（3.50±2.19）比较差异无显著性（P〉0.05）。HSF1缺陷组成年小鼠平均体重（20.53±4.62）较轻,与HSF1正常组（23.06±3.39）比较差异有显著性（P〈0.01）。结论HSF1基因剔除小鼠被广泛应用于研究HSF1功能,但HSF1基因剔除对生殖、生长和健康状态的影响不容忽视。