Iron increases HMOX1 and decreases hepatitis C viral expression in HCV-expressing cells

Figure 4 Silencing the Nrf2 gene abrogates up-regulation of the HMOX1 gene by iron. A: Dose-response effect of Nrf2-specific siRNA on Nrf2 protein levels; B: Effect of Nrf2-specific siRNA on FeNTA up-regulated levels of HMOX1 mRNA. ^aP < 0.05 vs control. 9-13 cells were transfected with selected concentrations of Nrf2-siRNA (0, 20, 50, 100, 150 nmol/L). After 48 h of transfection, cells were treated with different concentrations of FeNTA (0, 50, 100 μmol/L) for 6 h, after which cells were harvested and total RNA was isolated. The HMOX1 mRNA levels were measured by quantitative RT-PCR as described in Materials and Methods.