Heat shock protein beta-2 is a protein encoded by the HSPB2 gene.Alpha-B-crystallin (CRYAB) is a member of the alpha-crystallin/small heat-shock protein (HSP) family and under various neuropathologic conditions accumulates in reactive astrocytes and degenerating neurons. In the 5-prime flanking region of the CRYAB gene on 11q22-q23, where a constitutive DNaseI hypersensitive site is located, Iwaki et al. (1997) identified a gene transcribed in the opposite direction. Analysis of its mRNA structure by RT-PCR and 5-prime/3-prime RACE revealed that this gene is composed of 2 exons and encodes a new member of the alpha-crystallin/hsp family. They termed the gene HSPB2. Iwaki et al. (1997) also determined the complete genomic structure of the rat homolog of HSPB2.