Heat shock protein (HSP) HSP27, HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90 are induced by cellular stresses and play a key role in cytoprotection. Both hyperglycemia and glomerular hypertension are crucial determinants in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy and impose cellular stresses on renal target cells. We studied both the expression and the phosphorylation state of HSP27, HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90 in vivo in rats made diabetic with streptozotocin and in vitro in mesangial cells and podocytes exposed to either high glucose or mechanical stretch. Diabetic and control animals were studied 4, 12, and 24 wk after the onset of diabetes. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed an overexpression of HSP25, HSP60, and HSP72 in the diabetic outer medulla, whereas no differences were seen in the glomeruli. Similarly, exposure neither to high glucose nor to stretch altered HSP expression in mesangial cells and podocytes. By contrast, the phosphorylated form of HSP27 was enhanced in the glomerular podocytes of diabetic animals, and in vitro exposure of podocytes to stretch induced HSP27 phosphorylation via a P38-dependent mechanism. In conclusion, diabetes and diabetesrelated insults differentially modulate HSP27, HSP60, and HSP70 expression/phosphorylation in the glomeruli and in the medulla, and this may affect the ability of renal cells to mount an effective cytoprotective response. mesangial cells; glomerular epithelial cells; mechanical stretch DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY (DN), the leading cause of end-stage renal failure in the Western world, is characterized by increased albumin excretion rate (AER) and progressive decline in renal function (9,20). Both hyperglycemia and glomerular capillary hypertension are considered major determinants in the onset and the progression of the complication (5), and in vitro studies on renal cells exposed to high glucose and/or mechanical stretch have partially clarified the underlying cellular mechanisms for this disorder (13).Heat shock proteins (HSP) are ubiquitous, highly evolutionary conserved intracellular proteins categorized according to their molecular weight (10). Thermal, oxidative, hemodynamic, osmotic, and hypoxic stresses (17) induce HSP60, HSP27 (human)/HSP25 (rodents), and HSP70 (human)/HSP72 (rodents), and HSP90 expression, and this stress response results in cytoprotection (18). Specifically, HSP prevent nonspecific protein assembly, assist in denatured protein refolding, and interfere with proapoptotic pathways. Both hyperglycemia and glomerular capillary hypertension impose cellular stresses on renal target cells and they are thus potential inducers of a stress response that may counterbalance the deleterious effects of these insults. In addition, enhanced expression/phosphorylation of HSP27, an actin-specific molecular chaperone, has been reported in podocytes in experimental nephrotic syndrome (32), suggesting a role for HSP27 in the pathophysiological changes of the podocyte cytoskeleton during the development of proteinuria. Liu et al. (19) have demonstrated that HSP47, a procolla...