Binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP) also known as 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP-78) or heat shock 70 kDa protein 5 (HSPA5) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HSPA5 gene. BiP is a HSP70 molecular chaperone located in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that binds newly synthesized proteins as they are translocated into the ER, and maintains them in a state competent for subsequent folding and oligomerization. BiP is also an essential component of the translocation machinery, as well as playing a role in retrograde transport across the ER membrane of aberrant proteins destined for degradation by the proteasome. Like many stress and heat shock proteins, BiP/GRP78 has potent immunological activity when released from the internal environment of the cell into the extracelluar space.specifically, it feeds anti-inflammatory and pro-resolutory signals into immune networks, thus helping to resolve inflammation.
