Tissue-specific posttranslational modification of the small heat shock protein HSP27 in Drosophila

Drosophila sHSPs (small heat shock proteins) are expressed in the absence of stress in specific regions of the central nervous system and in gonads of young adults flies. In these two organs, the sHSPs show a cell-specific and developmental stage-specific pattern of expression suggesting distinct regulation and function(s) of each individual sHSP (R. Marin et al., Dev. Genet. 14, 69-77, 1993). Since mammalian HSP27 has been reported to be phosphorylated through a complex novel cascade implicating distinct kinases, we examined whether two of the sHSPs (HSP27 and HSP23) exist in different isoforms as a result of posttranslational modification in vivo. HSP27 and HSP23 were analyzed in various tissues in unstressed and heat-shocked flies. Four isoforms of HSP27 were found to be constitutively expressed in the nervous system and in testes and two in ovaries. The proportion of these isoforms relative to each other was specific to a given tissue. In the case of HSP23, two isoforms were expressed in the heads and in testes of unstressed flies. In ovaries, a low level of a single isoform of HSP23 was found. Heat shock caused an increase in the amount of preexisting HSP27 and HSP23 and the appearance of additional isoforms in ovaries. Susceptibility to phosphatase treatment indicated that isoforms of HSP27 were phosphoproteins. This was further supported by in vitro experiments in which Drosophila sHSPs were incubated with purified Chinese hamster HSP27 kinase. Only HSP27 was shown to be a substrate of this mammalian HSP27 kinase. The present data suggest that tissue- and HSP-specific posttranslational modification systems may modulate the function of these proteins in different cell types. Furthermore, the signal transduction pathways leading to phosphorylation of the sHSPs are conserved between mammals and Drosophila, and the sHSP kinase cascade may be developmentally regulated.