Serum Heat Shock Protein (HSP70) and Its Antibody (Anti-HSP70) Levels in Male Foundry Workers in Taiwan

摘要

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) first observed in Drosophila melanogaster (Ritossa 1962) are very conservative proteins found from bacteria to mammals. HSPs are classified into several families according to their molecular weights including Hsp90, Hsp70, Hsp60 and those with Low Molecular Weights (LMW's) (Lindquist and Craig 1988). The levels of HSPs in cells can be elevated owing to environmental stresses such as extreme temperature, heavy metals, and organic compounds, and therefore are referred to as stress proteins as well. Because HSPs can be induced by many environmental stresses, HSPs, especially Hsp70 and Hsp60, have used as biomarkers in a range of algae, invertebrates, fish etc (Gibney et al 2001; Lewis et al 1999; Pyza et al 1997). The importance of HSPs in biochemical processes is their involvement in the folding of cellular proteins (Hartl 1996) thus ensuring the proteins perform normally. Induction of the HSPs by any environmental stress will make cells more resistant to environmental stress. The expression of HSPs has been extensively investigating by many researchers in the last decades (Craig et al 1993; Lindqust and Craig 1988; Minowada and Welch 1995).