Role of Hsp70 in Multiple Sclerosis: An Overview

For many years heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) was considered exclusively an intracellular chaperone contributing to protein proteostasis and in apoptotic pathway block. Lately it has been demonstrated that Hsp70 is actively released in the extracellular environment, thereby promoting the activation of the immune system by stimulating innate and adaptive responses through the activation of APCs. Its expression in the nervous system is induced in a variety of pathological conditions. Emerging evidences displayed that Hsp70 is a critical regulator in normal neural cells. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) directed against myelin antigens. In this review, we focus our attention on the possible protective or detrimental Hsp70 role in multiple sclerosis. A better comprehension will be useful to take advantage of its potential as a therapeutic target.