HEAT-SHOCK PROTEINS AND THE KIDNEY

The heat shock (HS) response is remarkably conserved during evolution and is evoked under many conditions of stress. There are a number of w ays in which this ubiquitous response may be important for the underst anding of renal pathophysiology. Ischemia, toxin exposure, and oxidati ve stress induce this response. Several models of hypertension are ass ociated with increased susceptibility to environmental stress and incr eased accumulation of heat shock protein mRNA. HSP70 polymorphism has been demonstrated when comparing normotensive and hypertensive rats. H eat shock proteins may play a role in renal diseases through their imp ortant involvement in immunological processes. Several observations po int to a role of the heat shock response in systemic lupus erythematos us (SLE). Autoantibodies against HSP70 and ubiquitin are found in many patients with this disease. Autoantibodies against ubiquitin and ubiq uitinated histone H2A are localized to the kidney glomerular basement membrane of SLE patients with active disease. A better understanding o f the HS response may thus provide important insight into renal pathop hysiology and may suggest paradigms for therapeutic interventions.