Elevated levels of the 90 kD heat shock protein in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus are dependent upon enhanced transcription of the hsp90 beta gene.

The level of the 90 kD heat shock protein (hsp90) has been shown to be elevated in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a subset of SLE patients. We show that this increased level of hsp90 is primarily dependent upon the enhanced transcription of the hsp90 beta gene which is observed in these patients but not in normal controls or SLE patients without elevated protein levels. Elevated transcription of the hsp90 beta gene in SLE patients is not in general paralleled by enhanced transcription of the hsp70 or ubiquitin genes indicating that the hsp90 beta gene is specifically activated in some SLE patients.