Figure 3.

Influence of HSPs in innate immunity. Following ischemic stroke, HSPs have been shown to inhibit the activation of the transcription factor NF-kB and to prevent its nuclear translocation. Acute brain insults (brain injury) trigger activation of NF-kB by causing the phosphorylation and degradation of its inhibitor protein IkB, which normally keeps NF-kB (which consists of the heterodimers p65 and p50) tethered to the cytosol. Once NF-kB is able to translocate to the nucleus, it binds to promoter regions of several pro-inflammatory genes and leads to an inflammatory response.