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Involvement of heme oxygenase-1 in Korean colon cancer
Kyoung Ah Kang1, Young Hee Maeng, Rui Zhang
1Division of Radiation Cancer Research, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul 139-706, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) catabolizes heme into carbon monoxide, biliverdin, and free iron which mediate its protective effect against oxidative stress. The aim of the present study was to determine the expression level and activity of HO-1 in Korean colon cancer tissues and cell lines. HO-1 protein expression was higher (>1.5-fold) in tumor tissues than in adjacent normal tissues in 14 of 20 colon cancer patients, and HO-1 protein expression was closely correlated with HO-1 enzyme activity in cancer tissues. Immunohistochemical data confirmed that HO-1 protein was expressed at a higher level in colon cancer tissues than in normal mucosa. Furthermore, HO-1 mRNA and protein expression and enzyme activity were higher in the colon cancer cell lines Caco-2, SNU-407, SNU-1033, HT-29, and SW-403 than in the normal fetal human colon cell line FHC. Treatment with the HO-1 inhibitor zinc protoporphyrin decreased the viability of colon cancer cell lines. These data indicate that HO-1 may serve as a clinically useful biomarker of colon cancer and as a target for anticolon cancer drugs.
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