Hsp21: Difference between revisions

== 'Structure of small heat shock protein (Hsp21)' ==

== Introduction ==

Small heat-shock proteins (sHSPs) constitute a highly conserved family of molecular chaperones that prevent stress-induced protein misfolding and aggregation, particularly during heat shock. Their expression can increase dramatically, reaching up to 1% of total cellular protein, highlighting their critical role in thermotolerance and in the regulation of cellular stress responses. sHSPs bind to denaturing proteins in an ATP-independent manner, thereby preventing irreversible aggregation. Rather than directly refolding substrate proteins, they act as a first line of defense by stabilizing unfolded or partially folded intermediates and subsequently coordinating with ATP-dependent chaperone systems, such as HSP70 and the HSP100/Clp chaperone machinery, to facilitate substrate disaggregation and refolding.