Heat shock proteins and autoimmunity

Heat shock proteins are major antigens of the T cell response to many pathogens. Because of their marked conservation of sequence in pro- and eukaryotes, they have also been postulated as target antigens in autoimmune disease. Despite substantial in vitro evidence to suggest T cell recognition of self hsp, it has proved more difficult to implicate such recognition in autoimmune disease. Nevertheless, their dominance in T cell responses generally and the ability to manipulate certain autoimmune diseases by altering responses to hsp suggests that T cell recognition of hsp is important in these diseases; however at present the mechanisms involved remain obscure.