Heat Shock Protein Response to Stress in Poultry: A Review

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The demand for poultry production is growing along with the human population, and supplying sufficient animal protein remains an ultimate priority. Securing food for future generations may have wide-ranging implications for poultry well-being. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) have been studied extensively in poultry to assess stress levels in different circumstances. However, the information on HSP expression is scattered; therefore, the present review attempts to signify the importance of HSPs in various conditions, focusing mainly on poultry. Considering the importance of poultry well-being, the synthesis and release of HSPs are primarily associated with the birds’ ability to cope with different stress conditions. ABSTRACT: Compared to other animal species, production has dramatically increased in the poultry sector. However, in intensive production systems, poultry are subjected to stress conditions that may compromise their well-being. Much like other living organisms, poultry respond to various stressors by synthesising a group of evolutionarily conserved polypeptides named heat shock proteins (HSPs) to maintain homeostasis. These proteins, as chaperones, play a pivotal role in protecting animals against stress by re-establishing normal protein conformation and, thus, cellular homeostasis. In the last few decades, many advances have been made in ascertaining the HSP response to thermal and non-thermal stressors in poultry. The present review focuses on what is currently known about the HSP response to thermal and non-thermal stressors in poultry and discusses the factors that modulate its induction and regulatory mechanisms. The development of practical strategies to alleviate the detrimental effects of environmental stresses on poultry will benefit from detailed studies that describe the mechanisms of stress resilience and enhance our understanding of the nature of heat shock signalling proteins and gene expression.