**9. Conclusion**

Treatment for *M. tuberculosis* has to be lengthy, since populations of this bacillus differ in metabolic activity. In addition, the treatment has to consist of a variety of drugs, since spontaneous chromosome mutations can give rise to drug resistance. As heat shock proteins are involved in crucial housekeeping activity, their inactivation may be lethal for the cells. Despite the impressive progress in the understanding of structure and function of Hsps, the biological significance of these proteins in the survival of bacteria inside macrophage is still not completely clear. These proteins appear to be playing an important role in protecting the bacteria from the environment. Further understanding of Hsps is required for the development of new anti-tuberculosis drugs and vaccines.
