title: Heat shock proteins and cardiovascular pathophysiology.
abstract: In the eukaryotic cell an intrinsic mechanism is present providing the ability to defend itself against external stressors from various sources. This defense mechanism probably evolved from the presence of a group of chaperones, playing a crucial role in governing proper protein assembly, folding, and transport. Upregulation of the synthesis of a number of these proteins upon environmental stress establishes a unique defense system to maintain cellular protein homeostasis and to ensure survival of the cell. In the cardiovascular system this enhanced protein synthesis leads to a transient but powerful increase in tolerance to such endangering situations as ischemia, hypoxia, oxidative injury, and endotoxemia. These so-called heat shock proteins interfere with several physiological processes within several cell organelles and, for proper functioning, are translocated to different compartments following stress-induced synthesis. In this review we describe the physiological role of heat shock proteins and discuss their protective potential against various stress agents in the cardiovascular system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. L.Snoechx@fys.unimaas.nl
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Snoeckx
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Cornelussen
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Van Nieuwenhoven
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Reneman
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Van Der Vusse
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002320:Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D000076249:Heat Shock Transcription Factors; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D019157:Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D000076249:Heat Shock Transcription Factors; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors