Stress Proteins in Multiple Sclerosis and Other Central Nervous System Diseases

Abstract

Defining the roles of stress proteins in the normal and abnormal central nervous system is complicated by the large numbers of different cell types present in this organ system. Neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglial cells, endothelial cells, and choroidal cells are sufficiently different from one another, both functionally and metabolically, to preclude extrapolation of results from one cell type to the other. Increasing evidence suggests that stress proteins may play an important role during nervous system development. Expression of stress proteins in affected cells frequently occurred in the absence of other anatomical changes, suggesting that stress protein expression may be a sensitive marker of cell injury. The functions of stress proteins in injured nervous system are not clear, but they may play a protective role. In addition, the inflammatory milieu within multiple sclerosis brains increases the expression of stress proteins within glia, increasing the possibility that immune responses to infectious agents' stress proteins could cross react with their human homologues.