Hem oksigenaza je esencijalni enzim u katabolizmu hema. On preseca hem i formira biliverdin, ugljen-monoksid, i ferogvožđe.[1] Biliverdin se naknadno konvertuje u bilirubin posredstvom biliverdin reduktaze. Dejstvo hem oksigenaze se indukuje njegovim substratom hemom i raznim nehemnim supstancama. Hem oksigenaza se javlja u obliku dva izozima, inducibilne hem oksigenaze-1 i konstitutivne hem oksigenaze-2. HMOX1 i HMOX2 pripadaju familiji hem oksigenaza.[2]
HMOX gen je lociran na dugom (q) delu hromozoma 22 u poziciji 12.3, od baznog para 34,101,636 do baznog para 34,114,748.
Sposobnost oksigenaze 1 da katabolizuje slobodni hemi i proizvede ugljen-monoksid (CO) joj daje antiinflamatorna svojstva purem povećanog izražavanja interleukina 10 (IL-10) i antagonista interleukin 1 receptora (IL-1RA).[3]
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