How does temperature modulate Hsp gene expression in marine animals?
Building on these foundational data, we can address a set of mechanistic questions about how Hsp gene expression is influenced by the thermal history of the animal. Specifically, what is the physiologically significant aspect of the thermal signal? What cellular signaling pathway transduces environmental temperature to the nucleus? And, ultimately, how does environmental temperature modulate the transcriptional regulation of Hsp gene expression of ectothermic rocky intertidal animals? In order to begin to understand the mechanisms that explain the plasticity of Hsp induction, we have focused on the activity of heat shock factor-1 (HSF1), the transcription factor that regulates the transactivation of the stress-inducible Hsp genes (Wu, 1995). Not surprisingly, most of the available data have been gathered from model systems but the emerging mechanism of how stress-inducible Hsp synthesis is controlled at the transcriptional level has provided insight into mechanisms that might underlie
