heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 8(HSPA8) Homo sapiens. This gene encodes a member of the heat shock protein 70 family, which contains both heat-inducible and constitutively expressed members. This protein belongs to the latter group, which are also referred to as heat-shock cognate proteins. It functions as a chaperone, and binds to nascent polypeptides to facilitate correct folding. It also functions as an ATPase in the disassembly of clathrin-coated vesicles during transport of membrane components through the cell. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Aug 2011],