INDUCTION OF HEAT-SHOCK PROTEINS BY ABNORMAL PROTEINS RESULTS FROM STABILIZATION AND NOT INCREASED SYNTHESIS OF SIGMA(32) IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI

Accumulation of abnormal proteins in cells of bacteria or eukaryotes can induce synthesis of a set of heat shock proteins. We examined such induction following addition of azetidine (a proline analog) or synthesis of a heterologous protein (human prourokinase) in Escherichia coli. Synthesis of heat shock proteins under these conditions increased almost immediately and continued with increasing rates until it reached a maximum after 30 to 60 min at 30 degrees C. The induction was closely accompanied by an increase in the cellular level of sigma(32) specifically required for transcription of heat shock genes. The increase in sigma(32) initially coincided with increased synthesis of heat shock proteins but then exceeded the latter, particularly following accumulation of prourokinase. The sigma(32) level increase upon either treatment was found to result solely from stabilization of sigma(32), which is ordinarily very unstable, and not from increased synthesis of sigma(32). This is in contrast to what had been found when cells were exposed to a higher temperature, at which both increased synthesis and stabilization of sigma(32) contributed to the increased sigma(32) level. On the basis of these and other findings, we propose that abnormal proteins stabilize sigma(32) by a pathway or a mechanism distinct from that used for the induction of sigma(32) synthesis known to occur at the level of translation. Evidence further suggests that the DnaK chaperone plays a crucial regulatory role in induction of the heat shock response by abnormal proteins.