Antibodies to the 70-kDa heat-shock protein in patients with thermal burns.

Autoantibodies in the sera of patients with thermal burns, which bind to a protein in the intercellular substance of the epidermis, have been previously described. By immunoblot analysis, we have shown that a 68-kDa epidermal protein is the predominant antigen to which these autoantibodies bind. Our study also demonstrates that this 68-kDa epidermal protein is similar to the bovine brain 70-kDa heat-shock protein (hsp 70).