Heat Shock Proteins and their clinical Implications

Knowledge of the physiological role of heat shock proteins is currently limited; however better understanding of their function and thereby the acquisition of the capacity to harness their power might lead to their use as therapeutic agents and revolutionize clinical practice in a number of areas. Future work is needed to translate the experimental data on the capacity of heat shock proteins to induce tumor protection and immunity to infectious agents into the clinical environment. Approach to cancer vaccine is based on the role of HSP in the presentation of antigens. In several infections and especially autoimmune diseases, the implications of immune responses against HSP are still not properly or fully understood. HSP have clinical significance in conditions such as cardiac hypertrophy, vascular wall injury, cardiac surgery, ischemic preconditioning and ageing.