title: Immunopotentiating heat shock proteins: negotiators between innate danger and control of autoimmunity.
abstract: Heat shock proteins (hsps) are known to be immunodominant antigens of bacteria. Hsps are evolutionarily strongly conserved proteins present in all eukaryotic and prokaryotic cellular organisms and upregulated by several forms of stress. Despite (the paradigm of) self-tolerance, hsp-epitopes homologous to endogenous host hsp sequences have been implicated as T cell epitopes to endow crossreactive, hsp-specific T cells with the capacity to regulate inflammation, such as in experimentally induced autoimmune diseases. Such T cells were found to produce regulatory cytokines like IL10, in contrast to T cells induced with other conserved microbial proteins that are not upregulated by stress. Hsps have been implicated in immune regulation not only as upregulated targets of adaptive immunity during inflammatory stress, but recently also as triggering factors for innate immunity through activation via Toll-like receptors (TLRs).
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 1, 2584CL, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Willem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van Eden
authors.forename: Ad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koets
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Kooten
authors.forename: Berent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Prakken
authors.forename: Ruurd
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van der Zee
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D015551:Autoimmunity; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000517:prevention & control; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D018448:Models, Immunological; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D014612:Vaccines