Heat shock proteins are a distinctive class of proteins that have evolved to cope with stress and to provide cellular defense against a wide range of cell injuries. Cellular stress responses include a transient rearrangement of functional activities in order to protect and maintain essential cellular functions. The science of stress responses in various renal diseases is a new and still evolving medical discipline which offers the prospect of new alternate therapeutic options. This publication provides basic information about the important role of stress proteins in several renal diseases, ranging from hypoxic injuries to fibrotic renal disorders and tumors. Each chapter is written in a clear but concise style and includes illustrations necessary to highlight essential biological pathways which have been discovered during the past few years.

Providing an overview of contemporary issues, this book will be a useful reference book for clinicians and basic researchers in the fields of cell biology, pathology and nephrology who are either involved in dealing with patients suffering from various renal diseases or in defining various stress responses during tissue injury and subsequent organ damage.