Heat Shock Proteins and Cytoprotection

Heat Shock Proteins and Cytoprotection - Praca Zbiorowa

Discovery of the stress response mechanism is, undoubtedly, the outstanding achievement in the field of molecular biology of the cell. Indeed, the amazing ability of cells to react rapidly and adequately to stresses has engaged scientists' attention for decades. An interest in this problem among molecular biologists arose in 1962 after brief publication of F. Ritossa's description of the formation of new chromosomal puffs (ie, specific gene activity) in Drosophila salivary gland following thermal or chemical exposures. Later the products of such stress-induced gene transcription were designated as heat-shock proteins (HSPs) or stress proteins and further reclamation of this" terra incognita" developed in two directions:(1) Studying the structure and properties of HSPs and (2) Unraveling the molecular mechanism of the heat-shock response. By the middle of the 1990s, considerable progress had been reached in both areas. At the present time, we know how a cell senses elevated temperature and which biochemical events in the heat-shocked cell lead to the transcriptional response and stimulation of HSP synthesis. Likewise, it has been proven that the expression ofHSPs is an autoregulatory process in all living organisms from bacteria to man.