heat shock protein 60 (hsp60) is a mitochondrial chaperonin that is typically held responsible for the transportation and refolding of proteins from the cytoplasm into the mitochondrial matrix. in addition to its role as a heat shock protein, hsp60 functions as a chaperonin to assist in folding linear amino acid chains into their respective three-dimensional structure. through the extensive study of groel, hsp60’s bacterial homolog, hsp60 has been deemed essential in the synthesis and transportation of essential mitochondrial proteins from the cell's cytoplasm into the mitochondrial matrix. further studies have linked hsp60 to diabetes, stress response, cancer and certain types of immunological disorders.