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Updated: Jul 9, 2026

A Preclinical Model of Exertional Heat Stroke in Mice
Published on: July 1, 2021
Heat shock factor activation in human muscles following a demanding intermittent exercise protocol is attenuated with
J Palomero1, C S Broome, P Rasmussen
1Division of Metabolic and Cellular Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Aim:
The present study investigated whether increased activation of heat shock factors (HSF) following exercise relates primarily to the increased muscle temperature or to exercise in general.
Methods:
Six subjects completed 40 min of intermittent cycling (15s:15s exercise:recovery at 300 +/- 22 W) at an ambient temperature of either 20.0 +/- 1.3 or 40.3 +/- 0.7 degrees C. Muscle biopsies were taken prior to and immediately following the exercise protocol with samples analysed for HSF DNA binding by electrophoretic mobility shift assay.
Results:
Exercise at 40 degrees C resulted in significantly increased oesophageal (39.3 +/- 0.2 degrees C) and muscle temperature (40.0 +/- 0.2 degrees C) at the end of the exercise protocol compared with 20 degrees C (oesophageal, 38.1 +/- 0.1 degrees C; muscle, 38.9 +/- 0.2 degrees C). However, an increased DNA binding of HSF was not evident following exercise at 40 degrees C (reduced by 21 +/- 22%) whereas it increased by 29 +/- 51% following exercise at 20 degrees C.
Conclusion:
It appears that increased temperature is not the major factor responsible for activation of HSF DNA binding.
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