Protective effects of upregulated HO-1 gene against the apoptosis of human retinal pigment epithelial cells in vitro

AIM: To investigate the protective effect of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) against HO-induced apoptosis in human ARPE-19 cells. METHODS: The lentiviral vector expressing HO-1 was prepared and transfected into apoptotic ARPE-19 cells induced by HO. Functional experiments including cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) assay, flow cytometry(FCM) and mitochondrial membrane potential assay were conducted. RESULTS: The ultrastructure of ARPE-19 cells was observed using transmission electron microscope(TEM). It was found that exogenous HO-1 significantly ameliorated HO-induced loss of cell viability, apoptosis and intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species(ROS) in ARPE-19 cells. The overexpression of HO-1 facilitated the transfer of nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2(Nrf2) from cytoplasm to nucleus, which in turn upregualted expressions HO-1 and B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2). Furthermore, HO-1 upregulation further inhibited HO-induced release of cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-3(caspase-3). CONCLUSION: Exogenous HO-1 protect ARPE-19 cells against HO-induced oxidative stress by regulating the expressions of Nrf2, HO-1, Bcl-2, and caspase-3.