Heat shock-induced global transcriptional changes in T-lymphocytes analyzed using DNA array technology

grantor: University of TorontoCells respond to stress by activation of the heat shock (hs) response, regulated by the hs transcription factor, HSF. In human T-lymphocyte-derived PEER cells, a 90 min hs at 42°C results in increased transcription of a set of genes termed hs genes. Parallel analysis of transcriptional changes using both nylon DNA arrays and glass-based microarrays revealed transcriptional activation of genes previously not known to be hs-inducible. These proposed novel hs genes show smaller changes in transcript levels during hs than the well-characterized hs genes. Expression of a constitutively active form of HSF at non-hs temperature (37°C) results in a different expression profile: the up-regulation of the known hs transcripts is reduced and that of the novel hs transcripts is not observed, indicating that the heat itself likely pays a role in activating full transcriptional activity of HSF.M.Sc