GENERATION OF THE EXTRACELLULAR POOL OF HSP-70 IN LYMPHOID CELL POPULATIONS
The current literature contains a wealth of the data that shed light on the activating effect of extracellular heat shock proteins, in the first place HSP-70, on the antigen-presenting cells. Moreover, they give evidence that exogenous HSP-70 interacts with other components of the immune system, such as T-lymphocytes and natural killer cells. A number of reports published in the last years have demonstrated the existence of the extracellular pool of HSP-70 in peripheral blood sera of humans and laboratory animals. The extracellular HSP-70 molecules have been shown to participate in the immune processes. Besides, the immunocompetent cells can be not only the targets for HSP-70 molecules but also produce this extracellular protein themselves. The objective of the present study was to analyse the phenomenon of HSP-70 exocytosis in the populations of lymphocytes. The results obtained indicate that the pool of extracellular HSP-70 can be generated in the populations of different types of lymphoid cells. They suggest that populations of lymphoid cells play the role of the source of extracellular HSP-70 that enters the systemic circulation.