Heme Oxygenase 1 (HO1)

Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) also known as Hsp32, is the inducible isoform of heme oxygenase that catalyzes the NADPH, O2 and cytochrome P450 reductase dependent oxidation of heme to carbon monoxide, ferrous iron and biliverdin which is rapidly reduced to bilirubin. These products of the HO reaction have important physiological effects: carbon monoxide is a potent vasodilator and has been implicated to be a physiological regulator of cGMP and vascular tone; biliverdin and its product bilirubin are potent antioxidants; “free” iron increases oxidative stress and regulates the expression of many mRNAs (e.g., DCT-1, ferritin and transferring receptor) by affecting the conformation of iron regulatory protein (IRP)-1 and its binding to iron regulatory elements (IREs) in the 5’- or 3’- UTRs of the mRNAs.