Roles of Hsp70s in Stress Responses of Microorganisms, Plants, and Animals

Abstract

Hsp70s (heat shock protein 70s) are a class of molecular chaperones that are highly conserved and ubiquitous in organisms ranging from microorganisms to plants and humans. Most research on Hsp70s has focused on the mechanisms of their functions as molecular chaperones, but recently, studies on stress responses are coming to the forefront. Hsp70s play key roles in cellular development and protecting living organisms from environmental stresses such as heat, drought, salinity, acidity, and cold. Moreover, functions of human Hsp70s are related to diseases including neurological disorders, cancer, and virus infection. In this review, we provide an overview of the specific roles of Hsp70s in response to stress, particularly abiotic stress, in all living organisms.

Figure 1

Analysis of the conserved domains of partial Hsp70s in cytoplasm group from various kingdoms. The Hsp70 members from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Sc), Homo sapiens (Hs), Drosophila melanogaster (Dm), Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Cre), Physcomitrella patens (Pp), Selaginella moellendorffii (Sm), Oryza sativa (Os), Arabidopsis thaliana (At), and Populus trichocarpa (Pt).

Figure 2

Phylogenetic tree of Hsp70 family in rice.