Heat shock proteins are no DAMPs, rather'DAMPERs'

F Broere, R van der Zee, W van Eden - Nature Reviews Immunology, 2011 - nature.com
Nature Reviews Immunology, 2011nature.com
Originally, the immune system was seen as a system that primarily combats infection. But, as
discussed in the recent Review article by Grace Chen and Gabriel Nuñez (Sterile
inflammation: sensing and reacting to damage. Nature Rev. Immunol. 10, 826–837 (2010))
1, most of us accept the idea that the immune system is key to tissue homeostasis and even
to homeostatic interactions with the outside antigenic world, including the gut microbiota 1,
2. However, much remains unknown about the nature of the triggers of pro-inflammatory …
Originally, the immune system was seen as a system that primarily combats infection. But, as discussed in the recent Review article by Grace Chen and Gabriel Nuñez (Sterile inflammation: sensing and reacting to damage. Nature Rev. Immunol. 10, 826–837 (2010)) 1, most of us accept the idea that the immune system is key to tissue homeostasis and even to homeostatic interactions with the outside antigenic world, including the gut microbiota 1, 2. However, much remains unknown about the nature of the triggers of pro-inflammatory innate immune responses. In a broad sense, two main types of activators prevail: non-self antigens (known as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs)), which are present in or released from infectious invaders; and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), which are host molecules (such as high-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1)) released from damaged cells under necrotic but not apoptotic conditions.
Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are frequently mentioned as prime examples of DAMPs (see, for example, Refs 1, 3). There are, however, several qualities inherent to HSPs that disqualify them as DAMPs.
nature.com