Pasteur Institute of Iran

Diagnosis of infectious diseases remains an important issue in medical science. Identification of biomarkers can be used to predict early infections. Recently, heat shock proteins (HSPs) have been known as the conserved compounds expressed under stress conditions in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic systems. These proteins act as molecular chaperones. Several studies showed the increased levels of HSPs in patients suffering from infectious diseases suggesting the role of HSPs as promising biomarkers. Also, Hsps possess significant roles in antigen presentation, the maturation of dendritic cells and the activation of lymphocytes. Thus, these proteins can be utilized to develop vaccines in bacterial and viral infections. In this mini-review, we will briefly describe the important roles of HSPs in diagnosis and immunity in bacterial and viral infections.