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REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Comparative Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1587414
The Dual-Function of HSP70 in Immune Response and Tumor Immunity: From Molecular Regulation to Therapeutic Innovations
Provisionally accepted- 1 China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
- 2 Department of Dermatology, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
- 3 Key Laboratory of Immunodermatology, Ministry of Education, and National Health Commission; National Joint Engineering Research Center for Theranostics of Immunological Skin Diseases, Shenyang, China
Heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) is a highly conserved molecular chaperone that plays a core role in assisting protein folding and maintaining cellular homeostasis. In recent years, studies have revealed that HSP70 has dual functions in immune regulation: on the one hand, it enhances immune responses by activating non-specific immunity (such as Toll-like receptor 2/4 (TLR2/4) signaling pathways) and specific immunity (such as cross-presentation of antigens, T helper 1 (Th1)/T helper 17 (Th17) differentiation); on the other hand, it inhibits excessive immune reactions by inducing the differentiation of regulatory T cells (Treg) and promoting the secretion of anti-inflammatory factors (such as interleukin-10 (IL-10)). In cancer, the duality of HSP70 is also very prominent: it can drive tumor progression through pathways such as inhibiting apoptosis, promoting angiogenesis, and tumor metastasis, and it can also inhibit tumor growth by activating immunogenic cell death (ICD), enhancing antigen presentation, and natural killer (NK) cell activity. This review aims to systematically analyze the immune regulatory functions of HSP70, focusing on its dual regulatory mechanisms and the "double-edged sword" nature of HSP70 in tumor immunotherapy and the innovative nature of targeted strategies, as well as providing a theoretical basis and research directions for precision medicine in the treatment strategies of related diseases.
Keywords: Hsp70, Immune Regulation, tumor immunity, Molecular mechanisms, therapeutic strategies 1.Introduction
Received: 04 Mar 2025; Accepted: 27 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang and Qi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ruiqun Qi, Department of Dermatology, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China
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