Role of Cold Shock Proteins in Cell Response to Low Temperature Stress

Cold stress, as an environmental tension, is one of the important limiting factors of survival and growth. It has a crucial role in the ecological disperse of organisms. All living organisms, especially plants, have developed many different mechanisms at physiological, biochemical and molecular levels for adaptation to cold stress. The main mechanisms of these responses require the presence and direct, indirect effects of the content and type of proteins. The cold stress influences the membrane fluidity and cell division and changes the types and content of proteins. Cold shock proteins (Csps) play a role in inducing cold resistance in organisms by increasing their expression, synthesis and accumulation. These proteins are produced as conserved molecules in different parts of the cell among various organisms. Csps are protein structures that bind to nucleic acids and have a substantial function in RNA conservation and regulation of the different levels of gene expression patterns in stress conditions. They are also present in normal conditions to regulate physiological, developmental and metabolic activities. In this review, the structure and function of different kinds of Csps in response to cold stress are described.