Secretory and transmembrane proteins are synthesized on polysomes and translocated into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Inside the ER, these proteins are often modified by disulfide bond formation, amino-linked glycosylation and folding. To help proteins fold properly, the ER contains a pool of molecular chaperones including HSPA5. HSPA5 was identified as an immunoglobulin heavy chain binding protein in pre-B cells (1,2). It was also found to be induced at the protein level by glucose starvation (3). When protein folding is disturbed inside ER, HSPA5 synthesis is increased. Subsequently, HSPA5 binds to misfolded proteins to prevent them from forming aggregates and assists in proper refolding (4).
