In Drosophila larvae, acquired synaptic thermotolerance following heat shock has previously been shown to correlate with the induction of heat shock proteins (Hsps) including HSP70. We tested the hypothesis that synaptic thermotolerance would be significantly diminished in a temperature-sensitive strain (hsf⁴) which has been reported not to be able to produce inducible Hsps in response to heat shock. Contrary to our hypothesis, considerable thermoprotection was still observed at hsf⁴ larval synapses following heat shock. To investigate the cause of this thermoprotection, we conducted DNA microarray experiments to identify heat-induced transcript changes in these organisms. Transcripts of the hsp83, dnaJ-1(hsp40) and gstE1 genes were significantly up-regulated in hsf⁴ larvae after heat shock. In addition, increases in the levels of Hsp83 and DnaJ-1 proteins but not in the inducible form of Hsp70 were detected by Western blotting. The mode of heat shock administration differentially affected the relative transcript and translational changes for these chaperones. These results indicate that the compensatory up-regulation of constitutively expressed Hsps, in the absence of the synthesis of the major inducible Hsp, Hsp70, could still provide substantial thermoprotection to both synapses and the whole organism.