Two-dimensional electrophoretic analysis of stress proteins in Paracentrotus lividus

The synthesis of stress proteins in Paracentrotus lividus embryos has been analysed by two-dimensional electrophoresis following either heat shock or ZnSO4 administration. As already shown for the 70-KDa hsp (heat shock proteins) a non responsive period, that is before hatching, exists followed by a responsive period in which up to 16 hsps are synthesized after heat shock, 7 of which are also synthesized after ZnSO4 treatment. Some of them pre-existed the stress, but their synthesis increases following the stress. Only few of them accumulate in amounts detectable by silver staining. The synthesis of all these proteins depends upon RNA synthesis.