In a physiological range of hyperthermia all living systems respond with a complex reprogramming of cellular activities to provide a basis for survival during the stress period and for a rapid restoration of normal activities in the recovery period. A prominent characteristic of the response is the induced synthesis of heat-stress proteins which is likewise evoked by numerous chemical stressors. The common signal transduction chain leading to the activation of heat-stress genes evidently involves the transient accumulation of abnormal proteins. The dominant HSPs belong to five conserved stress protein families, whose members are essential components of all living cells with general functions by far exceeding the stress response.
