• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.3405-3409
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• 2013

The activation of heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) can be induced by the changes in environmental pH, but the mechanism of HSF1 activation by acidification is not completely understood. This paper reports that a low pH (pH~6.0) can trigger human HSF1 activation. Considering the involvement of the imidazole group of histidine residues under acid pH stress, an in vitro EMSA experiment, Trp-fluorescence spectroscopy, and protein structural analysis showed that the residue, His83, is the essential for pH-dependent human HSF1-activation. To determine the roles of His83 in the HSF1-mediated stress response affecting the cellular acid resistance, mouse embryo fibroblasts with normal wild-type or mutant mouse HSF1 expression were preconditioned by heating or pH stress. The results suggest that His83 is essential for HSF1 activation or the HSF1-mediated transcription of heat shock proteins, in protecting cells from acid pH stress.

• BMB Reports
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.16-21
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• 2009

Three novel Class A genes that encode heat shock transcription factor (HSF) were cloned from Oryza Sativa L using a yeast hybrid method. The OsHSF7 gene was found to be rapidly expressed in high levels in response to temperature, which indicates that it may be involved in heat stress reception and response. Over-expression of OsHSF7 in transgenic Arabidopsis could not induced over the expression of most target heat stress-inducible genes of HSFs; however, the transcription of some HSF target genes was more abundant in transgenic plants following two hours of heat stress treatment. In addition, those transgenic plants also had a higher basal thermotolerance, but not acquired thermotolerance. Collectively, the results of this study indicate that OsHSF7 might play an important role in the response to high temperature. Specifically, these findings indicate that OsHSF7 may be useful in the production of transgenic monocots that can over-express protective genes such as HSPs in response to heat stress, which will enable such plants to tolerate high temperatures.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.05a
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• pp.105-109
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• 2005

Heat Shock Transcription Factor (HSF), and the promoter heat Shock Element (HSE), are among the most highly conserved transcriptional regulatory elements in nature. HSF mediates the transcriptional response of eukaryotic cells to heat, infection and inflammation, pharmacological agents, and other stresses. While HSF is essential for cell viability in yeast, oogenesis and early development in Drosophila, extended life-span in C. elegans, and extra-embryonic development and stress resistance in mammals, little is known about its full range of biological target genes. We used whole genome analyses to identify virtually all of the direct transcriptional targets of yeast HSF, representing nearly three percent of the genomic loci. The majority of the identified loci are heat-inducibly bound by yeast HSF, and the target genes encode proteins that have a broad range of biological functions including protein folding and degradation, energy generation, protein secretion, maintenance of cell integrity, small molecule transport, cell signaling, and transcription. Approximately 30% of the HSF direct target genes are also induced by the diauxic shift, in which glucose levels begin to be depleted. We demonstrate that phosphorylation of HSF by Snf1 kinase is responsible for expression of a subset of HSF targets upon glucose starvation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.118-125
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• 2012

Heat shock proteins (Hsps) play a key role in the cellular defense response to diverse environmental stresses. Here, the role of Hsp genes in the acquisition of thermotolerance in the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa NIES-298 was investigated. Twelve Hsp-related genes were examined to observe their modulated expression patterns at different temperatures (10, 15, 25, and $35^{\circ}C$) over different exposure periods. HspA and HtpG transcripts showed an up-regulation of expression at low temperatures (10 and $15^{\circ}C$) and high temperature ($35^{\circ}C$), compared with the control ($25^{\circ}C$). To examine their effects upon thermotolerance, we purified recombinant HspA and HtpG proteins. During a thermotolerance study at $54^{\circ}C$, the HspA-transformed bacteria showed increased thermotolerance compared with the control. HtpG also played a role in the defense response to acute heat stress within 30 min. These findings provide a better understanding of cellular protection mechanisms against heat stress in cyanobacteria.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.21-27
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• 2008

The expression of heat shock protein genes (Hsp 70, Hsp 40, Hsp 20.8 and Hsp 20.4) against thermal stress in silkworm Bombyx mori was performed through semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Upon exposure of silkworm to two temperature regimes ($38^{\circ}C$ and $42^{\circ}C$), significant change in the expression of Hsp gene was observed as compared to the control. Hsp 70 and Hsp 40 showed increased expression than the small heat shock protein genes Hsp 20.8 and Hsp 20.4. The Hsp 70 showed increased expression during the recovery period as compared to 1 hr thermal treatments ($38^{\circ}C$/1 hr and $42^{\circ}C$/1 hr). Whereas, Hsp 40, Hsp 20.8 and Hsp 20.4 genes showed higher expression level at initial stages that later gradually decrease during recovery period. Tissue specific expression of Hsp 70 showed variation in the level of expression amongst the tissues. The mid gut and fat body tissues showed higher expression than the cuticle and silk gland tissue. The Hsp 70, Hsp 40 gene expression was analyzed in thermotolerant (Nistari) and thermo susceptible silk worm strain (NB4D2) and results showed significant variation in their expression level. The Nistari showed higher expression of Hsp 70 and Hsp 40 genes than the NB4D2. These findings provide a better understanding of cellular protection mechanisms against environmental stress such as heat shock, as these Hsps are involved in an organism thermotolerance.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.354-361
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• 2015

Mitochondrial heat shock protein 75 (mtHSP75) is a member of the HSP90 family and plays essential roles in refolding proteins of the mitochondrial matrix. Mitochondria provide energy in the form of ATP and generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are activated in response to stress, and protect cells. In this study, we characterized the mtHSP75 of the big-belly seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis. The protein (BsmtHSP75) is encoded by an open reading frame (ORF) of 2,157 nucleotides, has 719 amino acids (aa), and is of molecular mass 82 kDa. BsmtHSP75 has two functional domains, a histidine kinase-like ATPase (HATPase_c) domain (123-276 aa) and an HSP90 family domain (302-718 aa). BsmtHSP75 was expressed in all tested tissues of healthy seahorses. The ovary contained the highest transcription level, followed (in order) by the blood, brain, and muscle. Pouch tissue showed the lowest expression level. The expression of BsmtHSP75 was significantly (P<0.05) up-regulated on viral or bacterial challenge, suggesting that BsmtHSP75 plays a role in the immune defense against bacterial and viral pathogens.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.179-184
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• 2010

Water temperature influences on various key biological events in fish, but the internal pathway of the temperature effects are not well understood. Heat shock proteins (HSPs), known to respond in the level of cells to many environmental factors including temperature, could improve our understanding on the pathway. Some biological processes such as gonadal development and sex differentiation in the Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus is particularly sensitive to water temperature. In this study, we have investigated the expressions of HSP70 and HSP90 genes in young tilapia at an ordinary temperature ($28^{\circ}C$) and elevated water temperature ($36^{\circ}C$). The distribution of the expressions of HSP70 and HSP90 mRNA in this species were found to be almost ubiquitous, being detected in all tissues studied here (brain, gonad, liver and muscle), suggesting the house keeping functions of these genes. Heat shock by elevating temperature from $28^{\circ}C$ to $36^{\circ}C$ significantly increased the expression of HSP70 mRNA in the gonad, liver and muscle for several hours (P<0.05) (brain tissue was not examined for this). The increased level of HSP70 gene expression recovered to the level at control temperature ($28^{\circ}C$) when fish were kept continuously at high temperature ($36^{\circ}C$) for 24 hours. Contrary to this, expression of HSP90 mRNA did not show significant increase in the gonad and muscle by the same heat shock (P>0.05), except in the liver where the expression of HSP90 mRNA increased continuously for 24 hours at $36^{\circ}C$. The results obtained in this study suggest that response to temperature change in different tissue or organ may utilize different heat shock proteins, and that HSP70 may have some importance in temperature-sensitive gonadal event in the Nile tilapia.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.235-239
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• 2004

Drosophila melanogaster heat shock protein 70 gene promoter (Dhsp70p) is widely used in transgenic insect to drive exogenous gene, and the homologous region 3 from Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPVhr3) functions as an enhancer for several promoters. To test whether BmNPVhr3 can enhance the Dhsp70ps transcriptional activity, the reporter plasmids, which contain the Dhsp70p, the reporter $\beta$-galactosidase gene with SV40 terminator and BmNPVhr3 fragment, are constructed and transfected into the insect cell lines (Bm-N cells and Sf-21 cells) by lipofectin-mediated method. The results from the transient expression assay show that BmNPVhr3 significantly increases transcriptional activity of Dhsp70p both under the normal condition and under the heat-shock treatment, although the effects are significantly different between in Bm-N cells and in sf-21 cells. The enhancing behavior of BmNPVhr3 on the Dhsp70p is in an orientation-independent manner. Meanwhile, the effects of heat-shock treatment on Dhsp70p alone or Dhsp70p/BmNPVhr3 combination present no significant difference, indicating that BmNPVhr3 only enhances the transcriptional activity of Dhsp70p, but cant alter its characteristic of the response to the heat-shock stress. The above results suggest that the Dhsp70p/BmNPVhr3 combination is more effective one to drive exogenous gene for transgene or stable cell expression system in insects.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.298-305
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• 2000

The functionally graded material (FGM) is the new concept for a heat resisting material. FGM consists of ceramics on one side and metal on the other. A composition and microstructure of an intermediate layer change continuously from ceramics to metal at the micron level. This study is carried out to analyze the thermal shock characteristics of functionally graded PSZ/ metal composites. Heat-resistant property was evaluated by gas burner heating test using $C_2H_2/O_2$ combustion flame. The ceramic surface was heated with burner flame and the bottom surface cooled with water flow. Also, the composition profile and the thickness of the graded layer were varied to study the thermo mechanical response. Furthermore, this study carried out the thermal stress analysis to investigate the thermal characteristics by the finite element method. Acoustic emission (AE) monitoring was performed to detect the microfracture process in a thermal shock test.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.171-176
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• 2008

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) serve as molecular chaperones and play a role in cell protection from damage in response to stress stimuli. The aim of this article is to investigate whether HSP22 affects IL-8 expression in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and which cellular factors are involved in the HSP-mediated IL-8 induction in that cell type in terms of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) and transcription element. Exposure of aortic smooth muscle cells (AoSMCs) to HSP22 not only enhanced IL-8 release but also induced IL-8 transcript via promoter activation. HSP22 activated ERK and p38 MAPK in AoSMCs. HSP22-induced IL-8 release was inhibited by U0126, but not by SB202190. A mutation in the IL-8 promoter region at the binding site of NF-${\kappa}$ B, but not AP-1 or C/EBP, impaired promoter activation in response to HSP22. Delivery of I ${\kappa}$ B, but not dominant negative c-Jun, lowered HSP22-induced IL-8 release from AoSMCs. These results suggest that HS P22 induces IL-8 in VSMCs via ERK1/2, and that transcription factor NF-kB may be required for the HSP22-induced IL-8 up-regulation.