Cerebral neurons and glial cell types inducing heat shock protein Hsp70 following heat stress in the rat.

In this chapter, the distribution of Hsp70 in brain cell types following whole body hyperthermia is reviewed. The prevalence of Hsp70 expression in oligodendrocytes, microglia, and vascular cells in this type of stress contrasts with scarcity of Hsp70 induction in astrocytes and most neurons of the hyperthermic brain. However, a similarity between hyperthermic- and arsenite-induced brain patterns of Hsp70 expression supports the view that denaturation of specific proteins plays a major role in the selectivity of glial/vascular expression also during hyperthermia in vivo. The mechanism of neuronal Hsp70 non-responsiveness in heat stress despite their ability to use Hsc70 in a partial heat stress response remains to be elucidated.