The effects of endogenous heat shock protein HSP70 on macrophages activities

Abstract

Macrophages are key players in the immune system. They play major roles in pathogen clearance, antigen presentation and wound healing, with primary function in phagocytosis and cytokines secretion. Upon infection when phagocytosis and cytokines production are manifold, heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), a molecular chaperone are upregulated robustly. The role of endogenous HSP70 in regards with macrophages activities was explored herein. For analyzing the protein expression pattern, macrophages were challenged with different zymosan concentrations at 1, 3 and 6 hours. HSP70 was knocked out using RNAi technique for examining its effects on macrophage functions, specifically, phagocytosis and nitric oxide secretion, which were measured by fluorescent microscopy and spectrophotometric method respectively. HSP70 inhibition affected microtubules that were detected using immunostaining. HSP70 was increased in response to exposure time but not zymosan concentration.