Effects of glutamic acid and acetylcholine on induction of heat shock proteins 70 mRNA in PC12 cells

The heat shock response has been found in many strainss of bacteria to humanbeings. Besides heat stimuli, many kinds of factors could also induce the synthesis ofheat shock proteins (hsp). It is still unknown whether neurotransmitter could induce theincrease of hsp expression in mammalian cells. In the present study, the effects ofglutamic acid and acetylcholine (ACh) on the induction of hsp70 mRNA in PC12 cellswere studied by Northem blot method. The probe used is specific for inducible hsp70mRNA. Our results showed that the glutamic arid under limited conditions (such as at 50~500 μmol/L and action time 5~30min) could induce the expression of hsp70 mRNA,which was pahly mediated by NMDA receptors. On the other hand, ACh (0.1 ~ 1000μmol/L) could not induce the expression of hsp 70 mRNA.