Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

ABSTRACT: We have studied the association of three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) present in the three HSP70 (heat-shock protein) genes on 6p21 with human longevity. The availability of biological sam-ples from various population cohorts in Denmark has given us the op-portunity to try novel methods of gene association with human longevity. A significant association of one haplotype with male longevity was ob-served. Furthermore, a significant difference in the survival of the car-riers of the different genotypes in females was observed. We also found an age-dependant decline in the ability of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to respond to heat stress in terms of Hsp70 induction.