European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

Authors
Asifa Wali, Masood-ul Hassan Balkhi

Abstract
A unique class of proteins (heat shock proteins) have evolved to resist with the potential for proteins to become unstable or denatured when stressed and thus act as a defense against protein damage. Heat shock proteins are collectively the only molecular mechanisms that animals utilize to tolerate stress. These proteins have pleiotropic effects interacting with multiple systems in diverse ways regulated by the endocrine system. HSPs have critical roles in helping fish cope with environmental change. The crucial role of HSPs is in thermo - tolerance. HSP70 is mostly expressed protein in response to thermal stress. HSPs enable fish to adapt to environmental stressors including temperature and osmotic stress and exposure to a variety of xenobiotic compounds. HSPs trigger immune response through activities that occur both inside the cell (intracellular) and outside the cell (extracellular).