Figure 3.

Heme induces Nrf2 and HO-1 in VICs. (a-c) VICs (passage number 5–8) were cultured in GM or OM in the absence or presence of heme (5–50 μmol/L). (a,b) Nrf2 and HO-1 mRNA levels were measured by real time RT-PCR (4 h). (c) Protein expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 was determined from whole cell lysates (12 h). Membranes were reprobed for β-actin. Representative Western blots and relative expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 normalized to β-actin from three independent experiments are shown. Results are presented as mean ± SD of three independent experiments performed in triplicate. ** p < 0.01, **** p < 0.001.