Cancer is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly lung cancer. Heat shock proteins and their upstream heat shock factors are involved in the occurrence of cancer and have been widely researched. However, the role of heat shock factor 2 (HSF2) in lung cancer remains unclear. In the present study, expression levels of HSF2 in lung cancer tissues from 50 lung cancer pa...

The small (18-kDa) heat shock proteins (hsps) of maize are encoded by a complex multigene family. In a previous report, we described the genetic information from cDNAs encoding two different members of the family. In this communication, we report the isolation and characterization of cDNA and genomic clones encoding information for a third member of this hsp family (c/gMHSP18-1). DNA fragments ...

Exposure of cells to a variety of stresses such as heat, radiation and xenobiotics leads to increased expression of heat-shock proteins (HSPs). HSPs protect cells against irreversible protein damage and are involved in adaptive responses to stress stimuli. Some HSPs are overexpressed in neoplasias, possibly contributing to the increased drug tolerance often observed in such lesions. We have stu...

Land snails are subject to daily and seasonal variations in temperature and in water availability, and have evolved annual cycles of activity and aestivation as part of their survival strategy. We tested in the field whether adaptation to different habitats affects the endogenous levels of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in two closely related Sphincterochila snail species, a desiccation-resistant d...

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) help maintain cellular function in stressful situations, but the processes controlling their interactions with target proteins are not well defined. This study examined the binding of HSP72, HSP25, and αB-crystallin in skeletal muscle fibers following various stresses. Rat soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles were subjected in vitro to heat stress ...

Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major malignancies in the world. Small heat shock proteins (HSPs) are reported to play an important role in the regulation of a variety of cancer cell functions, and the functions of small HSPs are regulated by post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation. We previously reported that protein levels of a small HSP, HSP20 (HSPB6), dec...

Select members of the heat shock proteins (HSPs) family, such as gp96, elicit immune responses specific to their chaperoned peptides. Although immunologic effects of HSPs on APCs described to date have largely been demonstrated with cell lines or primary cells in culture, their collective responses in vitro have been consistent with priming immune responses. In this study, we examine the physio...

Exosomes have recently been proposed as novel elements in the study of intercellular communication in normal and pathological conditions. The biomolecular composition of exosomes reflects the specialized functions of the original cells. Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are a group of chaperone proteins with diverse biological roles. In recent years, many studies have focused on the extracellular role...

In addition to serving as molecular chaperones, heat shock proteins (HSPs) have been implicated in autoimmune diseases, antigen presentation and tumor immunity. Extensive work in the last 10 years has also suggested that HSPs such as Hsp60, Hsp70, Hsp90 and gp96, may be potent activators of the innate immune system capable of inducing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by the monocyte...

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are known to play ecological and evolutionary roles in this postgenomic era. Recent research suggests that HSPs are implicated in cardiovascular biology and disease development, proliferation and regulation of cancer cells, cell death via apoptosis, and several other key cellular functions. These activities have generated great interest amongst cell and molecular biol...