Elevated levels of the 70 kD heat shock protein in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus are not dependent on enhanced transcription of the hsp70 gene.

The level of the heat inducible hsp70 protein (hsp72) has been shown to be elevated in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a subset of SLE patients. We show that this increased level of hsp70 is not dependent on enhanced transcription of the hsp70 gene or elevated levels of the hsp70 mRNA, neither of which are observed in SLE patients with enhanced protein levels. This indicates that posttranscriptional processes involving either improved translatability of the hsp70 mRNA or increased protein stability are responsible for the observed increase in protein levels in these patients.