title: Heme oxygenase: recent advances in understanding its regulation and role.
abstract: Heme oxygenase (HO) is responsible for the physiological breakdown of heme into equimolar amounts of biliverdin, carbon monoxide, and iron. Three isoforms (HO-1, HO-2, and HO-3) have been identified. HO-1 is ubiquitous and its mRNA and activity can be increased several-fold by heme, other metalloporphyrins, transition metals, and stimuli that induce cellular stress. HO-1 is recognized as a major heat shock/stress response protein. Recent work from our laboratory has demonstrated several potential consensus regulatory elements in the 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of HO-1, including activator protein 1 (AP-1), metal responsive element (MRE), oncogene c-myc/max heterodimer binding site (Myc/Max), antioxidant response element (ARE), and GC box binding (Sp1) sites. Using deletion-reporter gene constructs, we have mapped sites that mediate the arsenite-dependent induction of HO-1, and we have shown that components of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 (a homologue of the yeast HOG1 kinase), but not c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathways are involved in arsenite-dependent upregulation. In contrast, HO-2 is present chiefly in the brain and testes and is virtually uninducible. HO-3 has very low activity; its physiological function probably involves heme binding. Products of the HO reaction have important effects: carbon monoxide is a potent vasodilator, which is thought to play a key role in the modulation of vascular tone, especially in the liver under physiological conditions, and in many organs under "stressful" conditions associated with HO-1 induction. Biliverdin and its product bilirubin, formed in most mammals, are potent antioxidants. In contrast, "free" iron increases oxidative stress and regulates the expression of many mRNAs (e.g., DCT-1, ferritin, and transferrin 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA.
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Elbirt
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Bonkovsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004790:Enzyme Induction; D015870:Gene Expression; D006418:Heme / Q000502:physiology; D006419:Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000502:physiology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D006418:Heme; C496541:HMOX1 protein, human; D006419:Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing); D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1; C496542:Hmox1 protein, mouse; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases