The aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of heme oxygenase (HO)-1 and HO-2 in human endometrium at various stages of the menstrual cycle using RT-PCR, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. RT-PCR detected mRNA for HO-1 and HO-2 in human endometrium at all stages of the menstrual cycle. Western blotting also revealed the expression of the two distinct HO proteins throug...

Insulin resistance, with adipose tissue dysfunction, is one of the hallmarks of metabolic syndrome. We have reported a metabolic syndrome-like phenotype in heme oxygenase (HO)-2 knockout mice, which presented with concurrent HO-1 deficiency and were amenable to rescue by an EET analog. Apo A-I mimetic peptides, such as L-4F, have been shown to induce HO-1 expression and decrease oxidative stres...

The light-dependent production of hydroxyl radicals (HO*) by thylakoids, chloroplasts and leaves of Spinacia oleracea was investigated using dimethylsulfoxide as HO' trapping agent. Maximum rates of HO' production by thylakoids as indicated by the formation of methane sulfinic acid were observed under aerobic conditions in the absence of added electron acceptors. They were higher than 2 /anol (...

Cigarette smoking is associated with systemic oxidative stress leading to an upregulation of antioxidant systems [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and heme oxygenase (HO)] in some tissues, but the response in the human placenta is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of cigarette smoke exposure on placental antioxidant expression in...

PURPOSE To investigate the protective roles played by heme oxygenase (HO)-1 and -2 in the rat retina after ischemia-reperfusion injury. METHODS Retinal ischemia was induced in rats by increasing the intraocular pressure to 110 mmHg for 60 minutes. The expression of HO-1 and -2 in the retina was determined by Western blot, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and immunohistochemistry. To...

Zhihua Mao 1,2,*, Delu Pan 1, Xianqiang He 1, Jianyu Chen 1, Bangyi Tao 1, Peng Chen 1, Zengzhou Hao 1, Yan Bai 1, Qiankun Zhu 1 and Haiqing Huang 1 1 State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, 36 Bochubeilu, Hangzhou 310012, China; [email protected] (D.P.); [email protected] (X.H.); [email protected] (...

Heme oxygenase (HO) is a ubiquitous enzyme with various properties, but its main function is catalyzing the rate-limiting step in heme degradation to produce equimolar quantities of biliverdin, iron, and carbon monoxide (CO) (Tenhunen et al., 1968). Of its three isozymes, HO-2 and HO-3 are constitutively-expressed and HO-1 is inducible and acts as stress-response protein. It is not only cytopro...

To elucidate roles of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) in cardiovascular system, we have analyzed one-year-old HO-1-knockout mice. Homozygous HO-1-knockout mice had severe aortitis and coronary arteritis with mononuclear cellular infiltration and fatty streak formation even on a standard chow diet. Levels of plasma total cholesterol and HDL were similar among the three genotypes. However, homozygous HO-...

Fibroblasts are key structural cells that can be damaged by cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke contains many components capable of eliciting oxidative stress, which may induce heme oxygenase (HO)-1, a cytoprotective enzyme. There are no data on HO-1 expression in primary human lung fibroblasts after cigarette smoke extract (CSE) exposure. We hypothesized that human lung fibroblasts exposed to cig...

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a chronic but often fatal disease in elderly population. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is a stress response protein with antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. HO-1 has been shown to protect against atherogenesis and arterial intimal thickening. Emerging evidences suggest that AAA and arterial occlusive disease have distinct pathogenic mechanisms. Thus, in ...