title: Cloning, characterization, and heat stress-induced redistribution of a protein homologous to human hsp27 in the zebrafish Danio rerio.
abstract: Hsp27 is a small heat shock protein (shsp) regulating stress tolerance and increasingly thought to play roles in tissue homeostasis and differentiation. The zebrafish Danio rerio is an important model for the study of developmental processes, but little is known regarding shsps in this animal. Here, we report the sequence, expression, regulation, and function of a zebrafish protein (zfHsp27) homologous to human Hsp27. zfHsp27 contains three conserved phosphorylatable serines and a cysteine important for regulation of apoptosis, but it lacks much of a C-terminal tail domain and shows low homology in two putative actin interacting domains that are features of mammalian Hsp27. zfHsp27 mRNA is most abundant in adult skeletal muscle and heart and is upregulated during early embryogenesis. zfHsp27 expressed in mammalian fibroblasts was phosphorylated in response to heat stress and anisomycin, and this phosphorylation was prevented by treatment with SB202190, an inhibitor of p38 MAPK. Expression of zfHsp27 and human Hsp27 in mammalian fibroblasts promoted a similar degree of tolerance to heat stress. zfHsp27 fusion proteins entered the nucleus and associated with the cytoskeleton of heat stressed cells in vitro and in zebrafish embryos. These results reveal conservation in regulation and function of mammalian and teleost Hsp27 proteins and define zebrafish as a new model for the study of Hsp27 function.
authors.affiliation: School of Molecular Biosciences, Center for Reproductive Biology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4234, USA.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Anton L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Bryantsev
authors.forename: Maria B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Chechenova
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Shelden
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D018869:Heat-Shock Response / Q000502:physiology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D032342:Muscle Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D009210:Myofibrils / Q000378:metabolism; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010766:Phosphorylation; D021381:Protein Transport; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014162:Transfection; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins; C057725:HSPB1 protein, human; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; C503308:hspb1 protein, zebrafish