title: Expression and regulation of heme oxygenase isozymes in the developing mouse cortex.
abstract: Heme oxygenase (HO), the rate-limiting enzyme in heme degradation, plays a role in neonatal jaundice. Understanding the regulation of the developmental expression patterns of the two HO isozymes, HO-1 and HO-2, is essential for targeting HO to control pathologic jaundice, and uncovering the fundamental role that they play in mammalian development. Here we characterized the ontogeny of HO-1 and HO-2 expression in the developing mouse cortex by in vivo bioluminescence imaging, quantitative RT-PCR, and Western blot. HO-2, the predominant isoform in the adult cortex, was relatively stable throughout all ages. HO-1 was observed to be progressively down-regulated in an age-related manner. HO-1 expression in the adult cortex was also the lowest among the eight adult tissues analyzed. Because there is a 283-bp CpG island region in the HO-1 promoter, we hypothesized that methylation of the island is responsible for the age-related HO-1 down-regulation in the cortex. Methylation status was assessed using regular and quantitative methylation-specific PCR and the CpG island was found to be hypomethylated at all ages. Therefore, we conclude that HO-1 gene expression in the cortex is developmentally-regulated and that methylation of the HO-1 CpG island is not associated with the down-regulation of the gene.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305-5208, USA. huizhao2@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ronald J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Xuandai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kalish
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizobuchi
authors.forename: Hendrik J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Vreman
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: Christopher H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Contag
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D018899:CpG Islands; D019175:DNA Methylation; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006419:Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D006419:Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing); D051547:Heme Oxygenase-1; C105245:heme oxygenase-2