Methylene blue increases the amount of HSF1 through promotion of PKA-mediated increase in HSF1-p300 interaction.

Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) critically contributes to the host defense, and its amount determines the mobilization efficiency of HSF1 under stress conditions. To date, how HSF1 amount is regulated remains largely unknown. We found that methylene blue (MB), an anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory agent, increased the amount of HSF1 in BV-2 microglia, primary microglia, astrocytes, neurons and vital organs. The increased HSF1 contributed to a more increase in nuclear translocation of HSF1, association of HSF1 with heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) promoters and Hsp70 expression levels, and also induced a synergistic protection against oxidative stress-induced injuries in MB and heat shock-treated cells. The MB-induced increase in the amount of HSF1 was not associated with light exposition as well as the change in HSF1 gene transcription or macroautophagy, but associated with the proteasome-ubiquitin system. The acetyltransferase p300 was considered to mediate the effect of MB on HSF1, as p300 inhibition or silencing prevented the increase in HSF1-p300 interaction as well as the amount and acetylation level of HSF1 in MB-treated cells. Moreover, inhibition of protein kinase A α (PKAα) was found to attenuate the MB-induced increase in HSF1 amount and HSF1-p300 interaction. These findings were ascertained in primary microglia, astrocytes and neurons where p300 or PKA inhibition prevented the increase in the amount of HSF1 after MB treatment. Taken together, our results showed that MB increases the amount of HSF1 through promotion of PKA-mediated increase in HSF1-p300 interaction, providing evidence to illustrate a new pharmacological effect of MB in clinical application.