Hsf-1 (heat shock factor-1) is a transcription factor that is known to regulate cellular heat shock response through its binding with the multispecific transporter protein, Ralbp1. Results of present studies demonstrate that Hsf-1 causes specific and saturable inhibition of the transport activity of Ralbp1 and that the combination of Hsf-1 and POB1 causes nearly complete inhibition through specific bindings with Ralbp1. Augmentation of cellular levels of Hsf-1 and POB1 caused dramatic apoptosis in non-small cell lung cancer cell line H358 through Ralbp1 inhibition. These findings indicate a novel model for mutual regulation of Hsf-1 and Ralbp1 through Ralbp1-mediated sequestration of Hsf-1 in the cellular cytoskeleton and Hsf-1-mediated inhibition of the transport activity of membranebound Ralbp1.In response to heat stress, human cells respond by activation of Hsf-1 (heat shock factor-1), a transcription factor that binds to NGAAN repeats of the promoter of heat shock genes, augmenting transcription (1-5). Considered the master regulator of the heat shock response (1-3), Hsf-1 binds DNA constitutively, and its binding affinity is based upon its phosphorylation in response to heat shock (1-5). In the unstressed state, Hsf-1 is sequestered in a complex with tubulin, HSP90, and Ralbp1 (6). Stress or constitutively active Ral-GTP binding to Ralbp1 triggers the release of Hsf-1 and its migration to the nucleus, where its transcription factor activity is important for the expression of heat shock proteins (6, 7). Although these studies focused on Ralbp1 present in the cytoplasm bound to the cytoskeleton and nuclear membrane, several previous and subsequent reports have clearly demonstrated the presence of Ralbp1 in nuclear as well as plasma membranes (8 -12). In several recent studies, we have conclusively demonstrated that Ralbp1 is a transmembrane protein with a defined cell surface domain (8 -11) and that it catalyzes in ATP hydrolysis-dependent trans-membrane anti-gradient efflux of toxic xenobiotics as well as endogenous metabolites. The preferred physiological substrates for transport by Ralbp1 are glutathione-electrophile conjugates of electrophilic lipid metabolites that arise from stress or heat shockinduced lipid peroxidation (13). The cell surface domain of Ralbp1 can be targeted by highly specific antibodies that inhibit the transport activity of Ralbp1 and result in dramatic regression of tumor in syngeneic and xenograft models of melanoma, lung cancer, and colon cancer (14, 15). The membrane functionality of Ralbp1 is also evident from its crucial role in endocytosis as a rate-regulatory element (12, 16 -18).An endocytosis-linked protein POB1 that binds Ralbp1 in a similar region as Hsf-1 has been shown to be a specific and saturable inhibitor of the glutathione-electrophile conjugates and doxorubicin (DOX) 2 transport activity of membrane-reconstituted purified Ralbp1 (19). We proposed that just as POB1 could function as an inhibitor of the transport activity of Ralbp1, Hsf-1 could also function as a tr...