Heat shock, sudden change in temperature, triggers various responses in cells for protecting the cells from such a severe circumstance. Here we investigated gene silencing mediated by endogenous microRNAs (miRNAs) in mammalian cells exposed to a mild hyperthermia, by means of miRNA activity assay using a luciferase reporter gene as well as miRNA expression analysis using a DNA microarray. Our findings indicated that the gene silencing activities involving miRNAs were enhanced without increasing in their expression levels under heat-stress conditions. Additionally, the gene silencing activity appeared to be independent of the cytoprotective action involving heat shock proteins that are immediately activated in heat-shocked cells and that function as molecular chaperons for restoring heat-denatured proteins to normal proteins. Our current findings suggested the possibility that gene silencing involving endogenous miRNAs might play a subsidiary role in heat-shocked cells for an aggressive inhibition of the expression of heat-denatured proteins. © 2014 Fukuoka et al.
CITATION STYLE
Fukuoka, M., Yoshida, M., Eda, A., Takahashi, M., & Hohjoh, H. (2014). Gene silencing mediated by endogenous microRNAs under heat stress conditions in mammalian cells. PLoS ONE, 9(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103130
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