[The cellular reaction to heat shock: the physiological aspect]

Area of Science:

• Cellular biology
• Stress response mechanisms
• Protein biochemistry

Context:

• Cells exhibit acquired tolerance to heat shock (HS).
• This tolerance involves increased resistance and enhanced repair capacity.
• Stress proteins (SP) play a role in cellular defense.

Purpose:

• To review the fundamental mechanisms of cell response to heat shock.
• To elucidate the roles of stress proteins in acquired thermotolerance.
• To differentiate HS response from temperature adjustment adaptation.

Summary:

• Heat shock tolerance arises from two key processes: increased intrinsic heat resistance of cellular functions and augmented cell repair capacity.
• Enhanced repair is linked to faster renaturation or replacement of damaged proteins, potentially involving chaperones (a type of SP).
• While SP synthesis is induced by heat shock, they do not enhance initial heat resistance; some repair can occur independently of protein synthesis.

Impact:

• Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for fields like medicine and biotechnology.
• This review clarifies the specific contributions of SP to thermotolerance.
• It highlights that acquired thermotolerance can be a long-lasting cellular adaptation.