Heme oxygenase-1 in protozoan infections: A tale of resistance and disease tolerance

Rafael C M C Silva; Leonardo H Travassos; Claudia N Paiva; Marcelo T Bozza

doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1008599

Heme oxygenase-1 in protozoan infections: A tale of resistance and disease tolerance

PLoS Pathog. 2020 Jul 21;16(7):e1008599. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008599. eCollection 2020 Jul.

Authors

Rafael C M C Silva¹, Leonardo H Travassos², Claudia N Paiva¹, Marcelo T Bozza¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratório de Inflamação e Imunidade, Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto de Microbiologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
² Laboratório de Imunoreceptores e Sinalização, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Abstract

Heme oxygenase (HO-1) mediates the enzymatic cleavage of heme, a molecule with proinflammatory and prooxidant properties. HO-1 activity deeply impacts host capacity to tolerate infection through reduction of tissue damage or affecting resistance, the ability of the host to control pathogen loads. In this Review, we will discuss the contribution of HO-1 in different and complex protozoan infections, such as malaria, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and toxoplasmosis. The complexity of these infections and the pleiotropic effects of HO-1 constitute an interesting area of study and an opportunity for drug development.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Heme Oxygenase-1 / metabolism*
Humans
Immune Tolerance / physiology
Protozoan Infections / enzymology*

Substances

Heme Oxygenase-1

Grants and funding

Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Capes) and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.