The role of the heat shock response in protein aggregation and neuroinflammation associated with neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Huntington’s disease, are complex diseases that can be characterised by protein inclusion formation and chronic neuroinflammation in the central nervous system. Investigating whether pro-survival mechanisms are induced in cells in response to protein aggregation and inflammatory stimuli is an important area of research. The heat shock response is one such pro-survival pathway that results in the upregulation of heat shock proteins, which have demonstrated anti-aggregation, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activities in the cell.