Heat Shock Proteins and the Inflammatory Response

The heat shock proteins (HSPs) are important in the cellular response to stress and in cellular homeostatic functions such as protein synthesis and protein transport across membranes. An emerging body of data supports a role for HSPs in the inflammatory response, suggesting that HSPs participate in cytokine signal transduction and in the control of cytokine gene expression, that HSPs enhance antigen presentation to T lymphocytes, and that HSPs displayed on the surface of cells are important in targeting cytotoxic cells. Because changes in HSP accumulation occur in the whole organism under physiologic conditions, understanding the role of HSPs in the immune/inflammatory response may aid in understanding the organism's response to danger.