- B S Polla: Allergy Unit, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
For most living organisms, heat shock represents an unusual stress situation, but for parasites that are transmitted between invertebrate vectors and mammalian hosts it is a frequent physiological occurrence. Because of the extraordinary conservation of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and their potential immunogenicity, much attention has recently focused on the role of HSPs in infection and immunity. In parasites, HSPs appear to play specific functions in differentiation, in protection from the host cell's killing mechanisms, including oxygen free radicals, and even in virulence. In this article, Barbara Polla uses the example of malaria to illustrate the possible role of HSPs in host-parasite relationships.