When cells or whole organisms are exposed to temperatures slightly above their optimum for growth, they respond by synthesizing a small group of proteins, called the heat shock proteins (hsps), which help protect them from the toxic effects of heat. The same set of proteins can also be induced by a wide variety of other stresses including exposure to ethanol, heavy metal ions, and inhibitors of respiratory metabolism. Their induction is apparently a very general reaction to adverse conditions. (See Schlessinger, Ashburner & Tissieres, 1982, for review.)

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