The E1A 13S product of adenovirus 5 activates transcription of the cellular human HSP70 gene.

Expression of the human gene encoding the major heat shock protein, HSP70, was induced during cell growth by serum stimulation and after infection with adenovirus 5. In this study we showed that HSP70 gene expression could be induced by adenovirus 5 infection, even in the absence of exogenous serum factors. Whereas serum stimulation induced the expression of the endogenous HSP70 gene, it had no effect on early adenovirus promoters. However, expression of both the cellular HSP70 gene and the adenovirus E3 promoter were activated during adenovirus infection. By using a collection of reconstructed mutant viruses, we identified the 13S product of the E1A region as the specific transcriptional trans-activator of the HSP70 gene.