Heat shock up-regulates Imp2 and Imp7 and enhances presentation of immunoproteasome-dependent epitopes

The heat shock response is a canonical regulatory pathway by which cellular stressors such as heat and oxidative stress alter the expression of stress-responsive genes. Some of these stress-responsive genes (heat shock proteins and MHC class I (MHC I)-related chains) play a significant role in the immune system. In this study, we have investigated the impact of stimulating the heat shock response on genes involved in the MHC I presentation pathway. We report that two inducible submits of the proteasome, lmp2 and lmp7, are transcriptionally up-regulated by heat shock in cells of mouse and human origin. Furthermore, heat-shocked cells show enhanced presentation of the immunoproteasome-dependent MHC I antigenic epitopes NP^118-126 of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and E1B^192-200 of adenovirus, but not immunoproteasome-independent epitopes such as tumor Ag AH1 and SV40 large T Ag epitope II^223-231. These findings show a novel immunological sequel to the cellular response to stress that may play a key role during fever or other homeostatic perturbations.