Heat shock protein 70. 1 (HSP70. 1), also known as HSP70, is a highly conserved member of the heat shock protein family that exists in all living organisms and determines the protein fate as molecular chaperones. HSP70 basal expression is undetectable or low in most unstressed normal cells, however, its abundant presence in several types of human cancer cells is reported. Several studies support upregulated HSP70 involved in tumor progression and drug resistance through modulation of cell death pathways and suppresses anticancer immune responses. However, numerous studies have confirmed that HSP70 can also induce anticancer immune responses through the activation of immune cells in particular antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Regarding the significant and the promising role of vaccines in cancer immunotherapy, identification and characterization of the overexpressed HSP70 as a potential immune stimulatory factor can pave the path for development of highly effective anticancer vaccines. In this review, we will discuss the interactions of HSP70 with components of the immune system in cancers as well as possible strategies to harness HSP70 for eliciting anticancer immune responses.

Background: Perinatal asphyxia is an important cause of mortality and permanent neurological and developmental deficit. Early and accurate diagnosis would help to establish the likely prognosis and may also help in determining the most appropriate treatment. Studies in experimental animal models suggest that a protein called HSP70 may be a good and potentially useful marker of cellular stress that may be clinically useful in determining the presence of neonatal asphyxia.Objectives: Regarding the importance of early and accurate diagnosis of asphyxia, we conducted this study, which is the first investigation of the comparison of the serum HSP70 antigen level between asphyxiated and healthy infants.Patients and Methods: In this observational study, the serum concentrations of HSP70 antigen were compared between neonates suffering from perinatal asphyxia (n=50) and normal neonates (n=51). The inclusion criteria for the cases were neonates who had reached term and had at least two clinical criteria of asphyxia. Exclusion criteria were babies with gestational age<37 weeks, infants with congenital abnormalities or positive blood culture. Exclusion criteria in this group were the requirement to hospital stay during first week of the life or babies whose mothers had difficulties during pregnancy or delivery. Term neonates without major anomalies who had asphyxia during delivery were enrolled in the first six hours after delivery, and control group consisted of healthy term neonates without problems and normal delivery process in the first week of life. The cord blood was taken during labor to measure HSP70 antigen level by using an in-house ELISA (The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay).Results: The median values of serum anti HSP70 titers were significantly higher in asphyxiated neonates compared with non-asphyxiated neonates (0.36 [0.04 - 1.14] vs 0.24 [0.01 - 0.63]). At cutoff point=0.3125 ng/mL, sensitivity was 58% and specificity 76% based on ROC curve.Conclusions: A significant difference between the serum concentrations of HSP70 of the control and patient group was observed in this study. It is inferred serum concentrations of HSP70 antigen may be a useful marker for the early diagnosis of that prenatal hypoxia.