Figure 1.

Hemin induces gene, protein expression, and activity of heme oxygenase 1 (HO‐1). Fibroblasts from COPD patients (n = 14) and smoker controls (S‐C, n = 13) were treated chronically with either hemin (10 µM) alone or in the presence of inhibitors of HO‐1 activity: ZnPPIX (1 µM) or QC‐15 (15 µM) for 4 weeks. (a) Quantitative transcriptional expression of HMOX1 by real‐time qPCR. (b) Heme oxygenase activity. (c) Quantification of HO‐1 protein expression by western blot. (d) Two examples of western blot. Data are presented as mean ± SEM in the whole Figure. *p < 0.05 passage 7 (senescent stage) vs. passage 3 (nonsenescent stage), ^† p < 0.05, ^†† p < 0.01 cells treated with hemin vs. cells treated with DMSO, ^# p < 0.05 cells treated with inhibitors of HO‐1 activity vs. cells treated with solvent