The reported upregulation of HspB1 and HspB8 chaperone expression in the lumbar spinal cord of 39 ALS cases (4 of which were familial ALS cases) compared to 19 control samples may be an indication of such a protective response (Anagnostou et al., 2010). The gene discussed is HSPB8; the disease is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.