Heat shock protein beta-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HSPB2 gene. Alpha-B-crystallin is a member of the alphacrystallin/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 locatedHSPB2 has been shown to interact with TRAF6, HSPB8, Myotonic dystrophy protein kinase and CRYAB.