Role of heat shock transcription factors in stress response and during development

A variety of physical and chemical stimuli were known to cause specific stress response in all organisms. Research done over the past 25 years has shown that there is a striking uniformity in the manner in which organisms respond to different forms of stress. Expression of stress responsive genes was shown to be regulated by two or more specific transcription factors present in the cell prior to stress. These specific genes were also activated during development. In this review, the role of heat shock transcription factors in stress response, during development and during cell cycle is described.