of “heat shock proteins” which would protect the nerves and protein synthesis. Heat
shock proteins are also present in cells under perfectly normal conditions. They act
like chaperones, making sure that the cell’s proteins are in the right shape and in
the right place at the right time. They also shuttle proteins from one compartment
to another inside the cell, and transport old proteins to garbage disposals systems
inside the cell. Cells produce high levels of chaperones only briefly, even if stressful
conditions persist, because too much HSP can straightjacket the cell into necrosis
or cell death.
Inside the cell, heat shock proteins take the peptides and hand them over to
another group of molecules. These other molecules take the abnormal peptides that
are found only in sick cells and move them from inside the cell to outside on the
cell’s surface to help the immune system recognize diseased cells. These abnormal
peptides are called antigens — a term that describes any substance capable of
triggering an immune response.
As cells age, the heat shock response doesn’t function properly, just when it needs
to be most efficient, but inducing extra heat shock protein has a neuroprotective
effect. Stimulation of various repair pathways by mild stress has significant
effects on delaying the onset of various age-associated alterations in cells, tissues
and organisms. Spice and herbs contain phenolic substances which have potent
antioxidant and chemopreventive properties. In particular, curcumin, a powerful
antioxidant derived from turmeric, is a strong inducer of the heat shock response.
Oxidative stress has been implicated in mechanisms leading to neuronal cell
injury in various pathological states of the brain. Brain seizures start cascades of
cell death as the nerve cells in that area release toxic chemicals, including oxygen
radicals and excitatory amino acids such as glutamate. Seizures no doubt induce
a heat shock response to protect neurons from glutamate-induced excitotoxicity.
Studies show protection due to heat shock requires “new” protein synthesis, since
it did not occur when protein or RNA synthesis inhibitors were added.