Heat Shock Proteins are ubiquitously expressed in all organisms. They are induced when a cell undergoes various types of environmental stresses like heat, cold and oxygen deprivation. They are characterized by their role as molecular chaperones.

Heat shock protein (HSP) 105 exists as two isoforms; alpha and beta which belong to the HSP105/HSP110 protein family. HSP105 acts as both a chaperone to prevent thermal aggregation of proteins and as a regulator of mammalian cells. The HSP105 isoforms are found in the cytoplasm but not in the nucleoli under non-stressed and stressed conditions.