This book surveys the current knowledge concerning the expression and function of small stress proteins (sHsps) in different organisms, ranging from prokaryotes to humans. It provides an overview of the diversity and complex evolutionary history of sHsps and describes their function and expression in different eukaryote models. Additional chapters discuss the involvement of sHsps in pathological conditions and gene therapy approaches towards a control of sHsp expression levels.

Evolution and Diversity of Prokaryotic Small Heat Shock Proteins

Discovery of Two Distinct Small Heat Shock Protein (HSP) Families in the Desert Fish Poeciliopsis
Chaperone Function of sHSPs
The Small Heat Shock Proteins of the Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans
Drosophila Small Heat Shock Proteins
The Developmental Expression of Small HSP
Expression and Phosphorylation of Mammalian Small Heat Shock Proteins
sHsp-Phosphorylation: Enzymes, Signaling Pathways and Functional Implications
Small Stress Proteins: Modulation of Intracellular Redox State and Protection Against Oxidative Stress
Small Stress Proteins: Novel Regulators of Apoptosis Induced Independently of Reactive Oxygen Species
Hsp27 as Prognostic and Predictive Factor in Cancer
Cytoskeletal Competence Requires Protein Chaperones
Hsp27 in the Nervous System: Expression in Pathophysiology and in the Aging Brain
Protection of Neuronal and Cardiac Cells by Hsp27.