Differential regulation of interleukin-12 and interleukin-10 by heat shockresponse in murine peritoneal macrophages

Heat shock response is a conserved stress response and has been shown to ha ve anti-inflammatory effects. We investigated the effect of heat shock resp onse on LPS-induced production of IL-12 and IL-10, which are two important cytokines playing contradictory roles in regulation of immune response, by murine peritoneal macrophages. The data showed that induction of heat shock response strongly suppressed LPS-induced production of IL-12 while augment ed that of IL-10, suggesting the pleiotropic effects of heat shock response on immune regulatory gene expression. Also, the novel observation on up-re gulation of IL-10 by heat shock response adds to the mechanism by which hea t shock response exerts its anti-inflammatory effects. (C) 2001 Academic Pr ess.