Protective Roles and Cross-tolerance

A large body of evidence supports the role of both MTs and stress proteins in protecting cells from injury. While the constitutive forms have important functions in maintaining cellular homeostasis, prior induction of synthesis of 

Prior induction of stress proteins by heat or metals has been shown to protect cells or organisms against toxic injury by metals, such as arsenite or cadmium, as was discussed in more detail in Sect. D. The mechanism for this tolerance is believed to occur via protein-protein interactions, which involves the salvaging of damaged proteins or targeting damaged proteins for proteolysis. 

Strong experimental evidence exists which demonstrates that both MTs and stress proteins play a role in tolerance to toxic metal insults, albeit by different mechanisms. Perhaps both MTs and stress proteins are operating in concert or sequentially, along with other cellular defense mechanisms, e.g., GSH, in a multitiered system to protect cells from toxic injury. 

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Is MT a stress protein In this section, the following common properties of MTs and stress proteins will be compared evolutionary conservation, common inducers, protective roles and cross-tolerance, gene regulation, increased expression of these proteins in neoplasms and other disease states, and as adjuncts in chemotherapy. Since the two classes of proteins represent many proteins, we will speak of them in a generic sense for the purposes of this discussion. The discussion will include many generalizations and... 

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