Heme oxygenase-1 is a modulator of inflammation and vaso-occlusion in transgenic sickle mice
J. Clin. Invest. John D. Belcher, et al. 116:808 doi:10.1172/JCI26857 [Go to this article.]

Figure 2
Hemin increases HO-1 expression. (A) HO-1 expression can be further upregulated in the organs of sickle mice with hemin treatment. S+S-Antilles mice were either untreated or injected with hemin (40 μmol/kg/d, i.p.) for 3 days. Twenty-four hours after the third injection, the organs were harvested, and Western blots for HO-1 were performed on lung, liver, and spleen homogenates (1 μg of organ homogenate DNA per lane). The mean HO-1 band intensities (n = 3) ± SD are expressed as a percentage of those in untreated S+S-Antilles mice (100%), which represent the same untreated S+S-Antilles organs shown in Figure 1. Below each bar is a representative HO-1 band from the Western blot. *P < 0.05, untreated versus hemin. (B) HO-1 activity in normal and S+S-Antilles livers. HO-1 activity was measured in microsomes isolated from another group of normal and S+S-Antilles sickle mice as previously described (36). Mice were untreated, injected with hemin (40 μmol/kg/d, i.p.) for 3 days, or injected with hemin plus SnPP (40 μmol/kg/d of each porphyrin, i.p.) for 3 days. Twenty-four hours after the third injection, the livers were harvested, microsomes were isolated at 105,000 g, and HO-1 enzymatic activity was measured. The results in triplicate are expressed as mean ± SEM picomoles of bilirubin generated per milligram microsomal protein per hour. *P < 0.05, normal versus sickle.