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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Hsp60 and Hsp10 in Ageing

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HSP and molecular chaperones, both referred to in this chapter as chaperones, are key players in development and senescence. With regard to senescence, several issues are critical: the role of normal chaperones in the process of ageing itself and in preventing and controlling age-associated diseases, the role of defective chaperones (chaperonopathies) in the onset and progression of senescence and in the etiology of old-age diseases, the interaction of chaperones with the immune system, and the potential of chaperones as therapeutic agents for counteracting the deleterious effects of ageing on molecules and cells and for treating proteinopathies of the elderly (chaperonotherapy). All these issues are discussed in this chapter, focusing on Hsp60 and Hsp10 (referred to as chaperonins for the purposes of this article) by examining a sample of publications dealing with pathological conditions prevalent in aged individuals, such as atherosclerosis and coronary syndromes, neurodegenerative and degenerative joint disorders, diabetes, chronic occlusive pulmonary disease, and glaucoma (cancer is omitted because it has recently been extensively discussed elsewhere). The data show that Hsp60 and Hsp10 undergo changes in levels and distribution inside cells and tissues, including invasion of the extracellular space and plasma, with age and health status and in relation with specific pathologies. The physiological and/or pathological significance of these changes is not yet fully understood but is being actively investigated. The role of chaperonopathies, particularly those due to aberrant post-translational modifications related to stressors such as ROS, on the aggravation of senescence ought to be examined in detail in the near future. Studies on the mechanisms by which defective chaperones (molecular chaperonopathies) accelerate senescence and contribute to pathogenesis and, thus, to the development of disease (clinical chaperonopathies) should provide key information useful for developing diagnostic and therapeutic means based on chaperone genes and proteins