Fibroblasts from Alzheimer's disease donors do not differ from controls in response to heat shock.

We investigated HSPs mRNA expression in cultured fibroblasts from control and AD patients. Northern blot analysis using probes for HSP70 and HSC73 revealed that HS induced a several fold increase in both mRNA. Under these condition the extent of mRNA increase was similar in controls and AD. HS elicited also a modest increase in sAPP release that was similar in control and AD. The results suggest that the ability of AD fibroblasts to produce a defensive response to HS is preserved.