Enhanced protein denaturation in indomethacin-treated cells

Indomethacin, a potent anti-inflammatory drug, activates the DNA-binding activity of human heat shock transcription factor 1 (HSF1), but this is insufficient to elevate heat shock gene expression. However, indomethacin pretreatment leads to a complete heat shock response at temperatures that are by themselves insufficient. Here, we showed that the heat-induced loss of enzymatic activity of a nuclear or a cytoplasmic luciferase expressed in murine cells was enhanced when cells had been pretreated with indomethacin. Additionally, in these cells the 70-kDa constitutive heat shock protein exhibited an enhanced aggregation in the presence of indomethacin. Similarly an increase in the aggregation of beta-galactosidase was observed. These data suggest that indomethacin at moderate temperatures accelerates the presence of denatured proteins in the cell, thus lowering the temperature threshold for a heat shock response.