Heme oxygenase 1 overexpression increases iron fluxes in Caco-2 cells

Heme oxygenase-1 is a microsomal enzyme that, when induced by stress, protects the cells from oxidative injury. Heme oxygenase-1 participates in the cleavage of the heme ring producing biliverdin, CO and ferrous Fe. The released Fe becomes part of intracellular Fe pool and can be stored in ferritin...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: MENDIBURO,MARÍA JOSE, FLORES,SEBASTIÁN, PIZARRO,FERNANDO, ARREDONDO,MIGUEL
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2006
Country:Chile
Institution:CONICYT Chile
Repository:SciELO Chile
OAI Identifier:oai:scielo:S0716-97602006000100023
Online Access:http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0716-97602006000100023
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:iron
heme
heme oxygenase
Caco-2 cells
Description
Summary:Heme oxygenase-1 is a microsomal enzyme that, when induced by stress, protects the cells from oxidative injury. Heme oxygenase-1 participates in the cleavage of the heme ring producing biliverdin, CO and ferrous Fe. The released Fe becomes part of intracellular Fe pool and can be stored in ferritin or released by an iron exporter. The mechanism by which heme enters cells is not completely understood, although it had been suggested that it might be internalized by an endocytosis process. In this study, we expressed a full-length Heme oxygenase-1 cDNA in Caco-2 cells and measured intracellular iron content, heme-iron uptake and transport and immunolocalization of heme oxygenase-1 in these cells. We found that heme oxygenase-1 expressing cells showed increased apical heme iron uptake and transepithelial transport when compared to control cells. These results suggested that heme oxygenase-1 mediates heme iron influx and efflux in intestinal cells.