Heat shock 70 kDa protein 8; Lipopolysaccharide-associated protein 1

Molecular chaperone implicated in a wide variety of cellular processes, including protection of the proteome from stress, folding and transport of newly synthesized polypeptides, chaperone-mediated autophagy, activation of proteolysis of misfolded proteins and the formation and dissociation of protein complexes. Plays a pivotal role in the protein quality control system, ensuring the correct folding of proteins, the re-folding of misfolded proteins and controlling the targeting of proteins for subsequent degradation. This is achieved through cycles of ATP binding, ATP hydrolysis and ADP release, mediated by co-chaperones. The co-chaperones have been shown to not only regulate different steps of the ATPase cycle of HSP70, but they also have an individual specificity such that one co-chaperone may promote folding of a substrate while another may promote degradation. The affinity of HSP70 for polypeptides is regulated by its nucleotide bound state. In the ATP- bound form, it has a low affinity for substrate proteins. However, upon hydrolysis of the ATP to ADP, it undergoes a conformational change that increases its affinity for substrate proteins. HSP70 goes through repeated cycles of ATP hydrolysis and nucleotide exchange, which permits cycles of substrate binding and release. The HSP70-associated co-chaperones are of three types: J-domain co-chaperones HSP40s (stimulate ATPase hydrolysis by HSP70), the nucleotide exchange factors (NEF) such as BAG1/2/3 (facilitate conversion of HSP70 from the ADP- bound to the ATP-bound state thereby promoting substrate release), and the TPR domain chaperones such as HOPX and STUB1. Plays a critical role in mitochondrial import, delivers preproteins to the mitochondrial import receptor TOMM70. Acts as a repressor of transcriptional activation. Inhibits the transcriptional coactivator activity of CITED1 on Smad-mediated transcription. Component of the PRP19-CDC5L complex that forms an integral part of the spliceosome and is required for activating pre-mRNA splicing. May have a scaffolding role in the spliceosome assembly as it contacts all other components of the core complex. Binds bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and mediates LPS-induced inflammatory response, including TNF secretion by monocytes. Substrate recognition component in chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), a selective protein degradation process that mediates degradation of proteins with a -KFERQ motif: HSPA8/HSC70 specifically recognizes and binds cytosolic proteins bearing a -KFERQ motif and promotes their recruitment to the surface of the lysosome where they bind to lysosomal protein LAMP2. KFERQ motif- containing proteins are eventually transported into the lysosomal lumen where they are degraded. Participates in the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) quality control pathway in conjunction with J domain-containing co- chaperones and the E3 ligase STUB1. Interacts with VGF-derived peptide TLQP-21.