Activation signals regulate heat shock transcription factor 1 in human B lymphocytes

We previously showed that the ability of human B lymphocytes to elicit a cytoprotective heat shock response when confronted by heat or other stresses was dependent upon the state of cell activation. This was unexpected, considering the highly conserved nature of the heat shock response and the widely held belief that all nonmutated mature cells were capable of eliciting a heat shock response when stressed. To elucidate the mechanism by which activation primes B cells to respond to stresses, we examined heat shock transcription factor 1 (hHSF1) in B cells since this factor appears to be solely responsible for stress-induced transcription of heat shock genes in human cells. In the current report, we show that hHSF1-DNA binding complexes are undetectable in extracts of unactivated B cells. In fact, hHSF1 protein is not constitutively expressed in unactivated B cells, nor is its synthesis stress-inducible. However, following activation, hHSF1 can be found in either a transcriptionally active or an inactive state, depending upon whether the cell has been stressed or not. Thus, activation pathways play an important role in enabling B cells to survive and function properly in the context of physiologic stresses by regulating hHSF1.