昆虫热休克蛋白的研究进展

Current Developments of Heat Shock Proteins in Insect

热休克蛋白是细胞或生物体受到热胁迫后新合成的一类遗传上高度保守的蛋白,在原核生物和真核生物中普遍存在。作者根据国内外近年来热休克蛋白的研究概况,对昆虫的主要热休克蛋白家族的生物学特性、辅助蛋白、热休克基因的调控和热激信号的传导进行了综述,分析了热休克蛋白在昆虫体内作为分子伴侣、诱导生物体耐热性和稳定细胞骨架的生物学功能,并讨论了昆虫热休克蛋白在衰老和生物进化研究中的意义以及在生物标记和肿瘤治疗上的应用前景。

Heat shock proteins, or Hsps, are a small number of highly conserved protein synthesized in cultured cells or whole organisms, which exposed to elevated temperatures. It has been observed in every organism in which it has been sought, from prokaryote to eukaryote. This paper briefly reviews recently studies and focus on the traits of the major hsps family, cohorts assisting hsps, regulation of heat shock gene expression, and the possibility of signal transduction pathways. And then analyses the functions of hsps with regard to being molecular chaperone, inducing thermotolerance and stabilizing cytoskeleton. Aging and evolutional importance, biomarker and therapeutic application of Hsps are also discussed.