title: Evolution of the cellular stress proteome: from monophyletic origin to ubiquitous function.
abstract: Cells respond to acute environmental change by activating a stress response that is widely studied. However, knowledge of this stress response is fragmentary, and a unifying concept explaining its universality for many different species and types of stress is lacking. The need for a holistic view emphasizing the key aspects of the stress response is addressed by the following hypothesis. The cellular stress response is a reaction to any form of macromolecular damage that exceeds a set threshold, independent of the underlying cause. It is aimed at temporarily increasing tolerance limits towards macromolecular damage by utilizing a phylogenetically conserved set of genes and pathways that mediate global macromolecular stabilization and repair to promote cellular and organismal integrity under suboptimal conditions. This mechanism affords time for a separate set of stressor-specific adaptations, designed to re-establish cellular homeostasis, to take action. Supporting evidence, emerging conclusions, and ways to test this hypothesis are presented.
authors.affiliation: University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA. dkueltz@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kültz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000502:physiology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D006706:Homeostasis; D010802:Phylogeny; D020543:Proteome; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D020543:Proteome