AHSP and beta-thalassemia: a possible genetic modifier.

The identification of defectives genes underlying inherited diseases has made it clear that patients with the same genotype can have variable clinical expression. Suggestions proposing that the protein AHSP, a alpha-globin specific chaperone could influence disease severity in patients with beta-thalassemia, an inherited disorder characterized by a quantitative deficiency of beta-globin genes. This article presents a review of the AHSP gene structure, function and expression. A discussion of the AHSP gene acknowledgements is presented with an overview of the possible genetic modifier function of AHSP on beta-thalassemia pathophysiology.