Heat Shock Proteins in Digestive Tract Cancer: Molecular Mechanism and Therapeutic Potential

Abstract

Heat Shock Proteins (HSP) are a category of proteins for stress regulation being highly conservative in respect of evolutionary sequence, which mainly consist of HSP10, HSP27, HSP40, HSP60, HSP70, HSP90, HSP110 and multiple sub-types thereof. The main function is to maintain the normal functional structure of proteins through the molecular chaperone role. Simultaneously, it can also play a role of cell protection and immunoregulation. The expression of HSP is extensively high in digestive tract cancer and closely related to multiple biological functions such as tumor cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, cell cycle, invasion and migration and drug resistance in chemical therapy, etc. Simultaneously, it has also verified that the inhibitor of HSP can resist the tumor promotion effect effectively in vitro and in vivo. However, the current researches are being concentrated on the inhibitors of HSP70 and HSP90. Further clinic research verification is also needed. In summary, HSP are not only potential tumor biomarkers in early diagnosis and prognosis monitoring to digestive tract cancer, but also a potential target for effective therapy to tumors.