  In this Colloquium, the main features of the electron-lattice interaction are
discussed and high values of the critical temperature up to room temperature
could be provided. While the issue of the mechanism of superconductivity in the
high Tc cuprates continues to be controversial, one can state that there have
been many experimental results demonstrating that the lattice makes a strong
impact on the pairing of electrons. The polaronic nature of the carriers is
also a manifestation of strong electron-lattice interaction. One can propose an
experiment that allows an unambiguous determination of the intermediate boson
(phonon, magnon, exciton, etc.) which provides the pairing. The
electron-lattice interaction increases for nanosystems, and this is due to an
effective increase in the density of states.
