Question

Describe the normal biochemical and/or physiological process of Heat shock proteins and identify how it confers a benefit to an organism in dealing with an environmental stressor. Next, explain why an over-active response could become a biochemical or physiological issue. Give an example of an organism that this issue of “too much of a good thing” relates to, specifying the benefits and costs. Does the example organism you chose successfully deal with the potential for an over-active response, or not? What is the outcome?

Answer 1

Heat shock protein is a stressor protein that is not only expressed during heat shock stress but also on exposure to UV, cold and during wound healing processes. They work as chaperones, that is, support the correct folding of proteins or correct the folding in damaged proteins. These proteins are named after their molecular weight like HSP60, HSP70. HSP proteins react with the protein to refold if disaggregated and preserve folding from stress by binding to the protein.