Ecdysterone and heat shock induction of transfecting and endogenous heat shock genes in cultured Drosophila cells.

Various combinations of the heat shock genes of Drosophila melanogaster are transcribed in response to elevated temperature and also during normal development and in certain ecdysterone-treated Drosophila cell lines. Here I describe an homologous transient expression system using Schneider 3 cells, a Drosophila line responsive to ecdysterone. I compare the constitutive, ecdysterone and heat shock-induced accumulation of transcripts of five transfecting heat shock genes (hsp82, hsp70, hsp28, hsp26 and hsp23) to the accumulation of transcripts of their endogenous counterparts. The pattern of expression of the transfecting genes under these various conditions is generally similar to that of the endogenous genes.