Adaptation to heat limits stress-induced activation of caspases in the thymus.

We demonstrated selective activation of caspases in the thymus during heat shock, i.e. primary activation of initiator caspase 9 (but not caspase 8) and effector caspase 3 (but not caspase 6). Preadaptation to heat improved animal survival after heat shock and reduced heat shock-induced activation of both initiator and effector caspases. Hence, adaptation to heat produced an antiapoptotic effect, which was not selective towards receptor-dependent or mitochondrial pathway of the caspase cascade activation.