Abstract. To test a putative cause and effect relationship between heat-shock protein (HSP) expression and response to renal cell injury, HSP72 and HSP25 were differentially inhibited in LLC-PK1 cells by means of transcription factor decoy and short interference RNA (siRNA). Cellular injury was assessed by solubilization of NaK ATPase (S-NaK). An exonuclease-resistant, ethylene glycol-bridged, circular oligonucleotide decoy for heat-shock transcription factor (HSF)-1, based on the sequence of the porcine heat-shock element, was constructed and validated. It was found that under all experimental conditions, cells had comparable ATP levels; that decoy of unligated or scrambled sequence was ineffective; that HSP72 mRNA and HSP72/HSP25 proteins were significantly reduced in decoy-treated cells; and that the dampened response to HSF activation in decoy-treated, injured cells was accompanied by a substantially amplified loss of cellular integrity (S-NaK was 85% compared with baseline levels). Specific inhibition of HSP72 that used siRNA directed against an inducible porcine HSP72 gene resulted in complete ablation of injury-induced HSP72. Isolated inhibition of HSP72 was also associated with marked NaK ATPase detachment from the cytoskeleton (S-NaK was 135% compared with baseline levels). These studies suggest that an HSF-1 decoy effectively dampens the HSP72/HSP25 response to injury in renal cells; that HSP72 siRNA ablates injury-induced induction of HSP72; and that dampening of the HSP72/HSP25 response and ablation of the HSP72 response are both associated with impaired restitution of cellular polarity.In unstressed cells, preformed heat-shock transcription factors (HSF-1 and HSF-2) are inactive in the cytosol (1). HSF-1 is predominantly involved in stress-related responses, whereas HSF-2 appears to be an important developmental regulator. HSF-1 is rapidly released from the constitutively expressed heat-shock protein (HSP) 90 when demand for this chaperone increases as denatured and aggregated proteins accumulate under conditions of cell stress (2). Activated HSF rapidly trimerizes and translocates to the nucleus, where it binds to GAAn repeats that comprise the heat-shock element (HSE). Studies from our laboratory and others have previously demonstrated the activation of HSF-1 by graded reductions in cellular ATP in vivo (3) and in vitro (4 -7). Activation of HSF-1 resulted in the induction of HSP72 and HSP25 after either ATP depletion or ischemic injury (5).The relative importance of HSP72 and HSP25 in the protection or repair of renal epithelial cells exposed to ATP depletion remains unclear. Studies aimed at establishing a causative link between HSP induction and cytoprotection have examined the effects of overexpression of the heat-shock response by means of preconditioning (8 -12), pharmacologic induction (13,14), or transfection (15). Preconditioning requires the application of an initial injury to induce HSP, which confounds the interpretation of outcome. Pharmacologic induction and transfection may alter ba...