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A New Anticancer Strategy

Heme oxygenase-1 is one of three mammalian isoforms of an enzyme responsible for catalyzing the degradation of heme groups. Recently, it was reported that heme oxygenase-1 expression and activity in endothelial cells is induced by an angiogenic oncovirus, the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. However, the molecular details of this activation remained to be determined.

Inhibition of heme oxygenase-1 by SnPP reduces tumor growth.

In this Paper of the Week, Maria Julia Marinissen and colleagues investigated whether the oncogenic G protein-coupled receptor (vGPCR), a key viral gene involved in Kaposi sarcoma development, activates heme oxygenase-1 expression. They discovered that vGPCR does indeed increase heme oxygenase-1 mRNA and protein levels and that heme oxygenase-1 is highly expressed in mouse tumors derived from vGPCR-transfected cells. Marinissen et al. also found that chronic administration of a heme oxygenase-1 inhibitor to mice with implanted vGPCR cells reduced tumor size without apparent side effects. Not only is this paper the first to describe the role of heme oxygenase-1 in tumor angiogenesis, it also suggests that inhibition of intratumoral heme oxygenase-1 activity may be a potential therapeutic strategy.

FOOTNOTES

See referenced article, J. Biol. Chem. 2006, 281, 11332-11346

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