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Heat-shock proteins as death determinants

The molecular pathways that mediate apoptosis are tightly regulated by a series of positive and negative signals, the balance of which determines whether or not cells commit suicide. New data from several laboratories now show that heat-shock proteins (HSPs) can influence this process through direct physical interaction with key components of the apoptotic machinery. These reports marry the survival (or death)-endowing properties of HSPs to the cell-death pathway.

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Figure 1: Proposed pathways for the modulation of apoptosis by HSPs.

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Xanthoudakis, S., Nicholson, D. Heat-shock proteins as death determinants. Nat Cell Biol 2, E163–E165 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35023643

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