stress protein

One of a group of proteins produced by a cell when it is under stress. Stress proteins are created in response to a wide variety of stresses including illness, high temperatures, alcohol, and poisons. They act as a buffer for the cell and repair damage.

According to their specific roles, stress proteins can be classified as heat shock proteins (HSPs), cold shock proteins (CSPs), etc. Many heat shock proteins have been found to act as molecular chaperones, that is they prevent misfolding and aggregation of heat-unfolded proteins.