The heat-shock response in vivo: experimental induction during mammalian organogenesis

Teratogenic effects of mild heat stress during mouse embryogenesis: effect of Trp53

Hyperthermia can be teratogenic in fetal mice exposed during organogenesis, an effect considered to be due to heat-induced apoptosis of cells in the developing organs. We exposed pregnant mice carrying Trp53(+/+), Trp53(+/-) and Trp53(-/-) fetuses to mild whole-body hyperthermia that raised their core temperature to 40.5 degrees C for 60 min on either day 10 or 11 of gestation. On day 18 of gestation, the fetuses were removed from control and hyperthermia-treated mice and genotyped, and tail length was measured. Limb digits were examined for abnormalities. Tail length in unheated control fetuses was influenced by Trp53 status. A complete lack of functional Trp53 (Trp53(-/-)) but not partial lack of function (Trp53(+/-)) resulted in shorter tails compared to Trp53(+/+) fetuses, indicating a role for Trp53 in the regulation of tail lengthening in mouse fetuses. In all three genotypes, hyperthermia on gestation day 10 resulted in tails shorter than unheated controls, and hyperthermia on day 11 resulted in tails longer than controls. There was no effect on limb digit abnormalities. The data suggest that Trp53-dependent or independent apoptosis may not be directly involved in heat-induced teratogenesis, but that the primary teratogenic effect of heat results from the disruption of another tail length-regulating process that is independent of Trp53. However, the nature of the teratogenic outcome of that disruption depends on the gestation time. The ability of Trp53 to additionally regulate the tail lengthening process was also sensitive to the effects of heat, but that sensitivity again depended on the time of the heat stress during gestation.

Radiation-induced teratogenic effects in fetal mice with varying Trp53 function: influence of prior heat stress

Teratogenesis induced by radiation in fetal mice has been closely linked to Trp53-dependent apoptosis. This study examined teratogenesis in tails and limb digits of fetal mice with varying Trp53 status after a 4-Gy radiation exposure, with and without a prior 40.5 degrees C, 60-min heat stress. Irradiation earlier in gestation (day 11) produced greater effects than later (day 12) exposure, but in both cases the maximum teratogenic effect of radiation occurred in Trp53 normal fetuses, the minimum in Trp53 null fetuses, and intermediate effects in Trp53 heterozygotes, indicating dominance of Trp53-dependent apoptosis. Heat stress 24 h prior to irradiation on day 11 did not alter the teratogenic effects in Trp53 normal or heterozygous fetuses, but it reduced effects in the Trp53 null fetuses. Conversely, heat stress immediately before irradiation on day 11 amplified teratogenesis in Trp53 null fetuses, still with only a small or no effect on fetuses with full or partial Trp53 function, respectively. These results indicate little effect of mild heat on Trp53-dependent apoptosis after irradiation, but they also suggest heat-induced amplification of Trp53-independent processes that led to apoptosis when heat was delivered near the time of radiation exposure, and heat-induced protection of that process when sufficient expression time was allowed. However, Trp53-dependent apoptosis, when functional, acted as the ultimate determinant of radiation-induced teratogenic effects during early organogenesis. On gestation day 12, radiation effects were diminished, but heat stress 24 h prior to radiation exposure had a large amplifying effect in Trp53 normal or heterozygous fetuses. In the absence of functional Trp53, the sensitizing effect of the heat was diminished. The results may suggest that at later times in organ development, DNA repair is more active, allowing some cells to escape radiation-induced Trp53-dependent apoptosis. However, heat may be able to significantly inhibit this active repair and increase the teratogenic effect of radiation. A diminished effect in the absence of functional Trp53 is consistent with an influence of heat on inhibiting DNA repair, but with a diminished probability of apoptosis.

Caffeine does not increase synthesis of heat shock proteins in rat embryos

Caffeine exposure in utero in rats is known to result in intrauterine growth retardation and lowered birth weight as well as changes to behaviour and brain biochemistry. We have investigated whether caffeine's embryotoxicity is a result of the events associated with increased hsp synthesis, i.e., disruption to normal protein synthesis. Caffeine (30 mg/kg) was administered orally to pregnant rats as single or repeated doses. Embryos were removed 3 h after dosing on gestation day (GD) 9, 10, 11 and 12 and total embryonic protein and RNA analysed. There was no change in the mRNA or protein levels of hsp 88, 71/73, and 25 after acute or chronic treatment. To separate the direct effect of caffeine from those mediated through the mother, whole rat embryo culture was used. Caffeine (50 micrograms/ml) for 90 min did not increase hsp 88, 73 or 25 mRNA levels in 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 GD cultured embryos. We conclude that in vivo or in vitro treatment of 9-12 GD rat embryos with moderate to high doses of caffeine does not increase the synthesis of the major mammalian hsps. Hence, hsp induction is unlikely to play a role in the embryotoxic actions of caffeine.

Elevated expression of proto-oncogenes accompany enhanced induction of heat-shock genes after exposure of rat embryos in utero to ionizing irradiation

We have recently found that the effects of exposing rat embryos in utero to teratogens capable of producing cardiac anomalies were expressed later as enhanced induction of heat-shock proteins (hsp70 family) when embryonic hearts were cultured in vitro. However, it remained to be determined whether heat-shock proteins are induced in vivo after exposure to teratogens. The heat-shock response in some mammalian systems is known to be accompanied by elevated expression of proto-oncogenes. Using gene-specific DNA probes, we examined the levels of the expression (transcription) of heat-shock protein genes and two nuclear proto-oncogenes, c-fos and c-myc, in the embryos removed from irradiated pregnant mother rats 4 or 5 days after the irradiation. We found that the levels of expression in vivo of the hsp70 and c-myc genes in the irradiated embryos increased by approximately twofold as compared with those in the control. The expression in vivo of the c-fos gene was not detected in either the irradiated or non-irradiated embryos. After 0.5-hr incubation in vitro of the embryos, however, the expression of the c-fos gene in the irradiated embryos was highly enhanced whereas the control showed no changes. Although the exact functions of these gene products still remain obscure, the enhanced expression of hsp70 gene(s) and the nuclear proto-oncogenes observed in the present study may reflect repair of intracellular damages and/or regeneration of tissue by compensatory cell proliferation, processes that may disturb the normal program of organogenesis.

Effects of exposing rat embryos in utero to physical or chemical teratogens are expressed later as enhanced induction of heat-shock proteins when embryonic hearts are cultured in vitro

In order to get more insight into the effects of teratogens on developing embryos, we investigated the protein synthesis patterns of the target organs isolated from teratogen-treated embryos. Rat embryos were either irradiated in utero with either 252Cf fission neutrons or 60Co gamma rays on day 8 of gestation or treated in utero with a bis(dichloroacetyl)diamine (a chemical teratogen) on days 9 and 10. Hearts were removed from the embryos on day 12 and were incubated in vitro at 37 degrees C in the presence of [35S]methionine for up to 8 hr. The newly synthesized labeled proteins were then analyzed qualitatively by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Enhanced and prolonged induction of a family of heat-shock (stress) proteins with a molecular weight of about 70,000 (SP70s) was observed as compared with those of controls. Among the teratogen-treated hearts, those with gross malformations already detectable at this early stage showed especially higher inductions of SP70s than did the others. The abnormal expression of SP70s observed in the present study appears to be a reflection of persisting cellular (tissue) damage inflicted by the teratogens, and the extent of the induction may be indicative of the degree and/or type of the damage. Such persisting defects in surviving cells, manifested by abnormal induction of SP70s in the present study, might be related to malformation of embryonic hearts.