heat shock proteins are amongst the most evolutionarily conserved of proteins. the significant function, structural, and sequential homology between hsp60 and its prokaryotic homolog, groel, demonstrates this level of conservation. moreover, hsp60’s amino acid sequence bears a similarity to its homolog in plants, bacteria, and humans. heat shock proteins are primarily responsible for maintaining the integrity of cellular proteins particularly in response to environmental changes. stresses such as temperature, concentration imbalance, ph change, and toxins can all induce heat shock proteins to maintain the conformation of the cell’s proteins. hsp60 aids in the folding and conformation maintenance of approximately 15-30% of all cellular proteins. in addition to hsp60’s typical role as a heat shock protein, studies have shown that hsp60 plays an important role in the transport and maintenance of mitochondrial proteins as well as the transmission and replication of mitochondrial dna.