Acute focal ischemia is a main factor of pathogenesis of a number of widespread cardiovascular and
cerebrovascular diseases, in particular, myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke. It is known that under the
conditions of ischemia expression of intracellular heat shock proteins (HSPs), especially HSP70, grows greatly
irrespective of the cell type. This stress-induced cell response is connected with cytoprotective properties of
HSP70. The protective functions of HSP70 contribute to the cell survival under adverse conditions and inhibit
development of programmed cell death. It was shown, that the level of HSP70 increases in cardiomyocytes and
brain cells in response to ischemia, that was connected with cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects. Besides,
in recent years, clinical studies of HSP70 have demonstrated elevated level of HSP70 in peripheral blood lymphocytes
in groups of patients with ischemic stroke and myocardial infarction. This review indicates that HSP70
can serve as a target for developing new approaches to diagnostics and therapy of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular
diseases.
