Hsp60 in physiology and pathophysiology of the respiratory system

The chaperone system (CS) plays key roles in health and disease in the respiratory system (RS). This chapter surveys published work on one member of the CS, the chaperone (also called chaperonin) Hsp60. It covers inflammatory–autoimmune and malignant disorders, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, lung cancer, lung parenchyma infections, and SARS-CoV-2. These disorders may be classified as Hsp60 chaperonopathies. One may hope to apply chaperonotherapy, namely a treatment that centers on the pathogenic chaperone, Hsp60 in the cases discussed in this chapter. If the chaperone is actively participating in a pathogenic mechanism, negative chaperonotherapy is pertinent, consisting in blocking/inhibiting the pathogenic chaperone or silencing its gene. This is applicable to some infectious diseases and cancers, for example, the ones that start in COPD lungs. On the contrary, if the Hsp60 is pathogenic because it is functionally defective, i.e., chaperonopathy be defect, positive chaperonotherapy is in order, and may require boosting the activity of the defective chaperone molecule via docking of therapeutic compounds or replacing it via gene therapy. Because of these possibilities, it is necessary to elucidate the role of Hsp60 in diseases of the RS beyond what is currently known. We hope this chapter will provide information useful for launching research focusing not only on Hsp60 but also on other members of the CS, e.g., Hsp70 and chaperonins of group II, to develop novel treatments and evaluate Hsp60 as a biomarker useful for diagnosis and patient monitoring.