hsp70 mRNA accumulates in LLC-PK1 pig kidney cells treated with calcitonin but not with 8-bromo-cyclic AMP.

In LLC-PK1 pig kidney cells, treatment with a cAMP-elevating peptide hormone, calcitonin, induces the accumulation of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) mRNA. When we used the method of differential hybridization to isolate uPA cDNA clones, we also obtained several calcitonin-inducible clones that were unrelated to uPA. Sequence analysis revealed 60% sequence homology between one of these clones and that of a Drosophila hsp70 gene. The uPA and the hsp70 cDNA clones were used as probes to compare the effects of various treatments on the accumulation of uPA mRNA and hsp70 mRNA in LLC-PK1 cells. Calcitonin or 8-bromo-cAMP treatment induced uPA mRNA accumulation, which was negligible in untreated cells. Heat treatment (42 degrees C) was ineffective. Calcitonin or heat treatment increased hsp70 mRNA accumulation, which was already high in untreated cells, but 8-bromo-cAMP was ineffective. Nuclear transcription of the hsp70 gene was increased by calcitonin but not by 8-bromo-cAMP treatment. These results suggest that calcitonin induces hsp70 mRNA accumulation in LLC-PK1 cells by a pathway apart from the activation of adenylate cyclase and through, at least partly, the activation of the gene transcription. Furthermore, induction of uPA mRNA accumulation by calcitonin or 8-bromo-cAMP treatment did not require protein synthesis. In contrast, induction of hsp70 mRNA accumulation by calcitonin or heat treatment did require protein synthesis. Other reports showed that protein synthesis is not required for heat induction of hsp70 mRNA in different cells, suggesting that the mechanism of induction of hsp70 mRNA accumulation in LLC-PK1 cells is not the same as in other cells.