Role of the Molecular Chaperones Hsp70 and Hsp90 in the DNA Damage Response

Abstract

Heat Shock Protein 70 (Hsp70) and Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) are well-conserved, highly expressed molecular chaperone proteins, which assist in the folding and stabilization of the human proteome. It is not surprising that chaperones regulate and fine-tune many important signal transduction pathways. An important example of this is the DNA Damage Response Pathway (DDR), which is critical for DNA repair after creation of single or double strand breaks. An increasing body of work suggests that many DDR proteins are kept active by Hsp70 and Hsp90 proteins. Detailed understanding of these interactions may lead to the development of novel anti-cancer therapies.