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MINI REVIEW article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1457010
This article is part of the Research Topic The Heme Oxygenase System in Immunity View all articles

The Nrf2-HO-1 System and Inflammaging

Provisionally accepted
Sinead A. O'Rourke Sinead A. O'Rourke Lianne C. Shanley Lianne C. Shanley Aisling Dunne Aisling Dunne *
  • Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Nrf-2 is a master transcriptional regulator of a number of genes involved in the adaptive response to oxidative stress. Among the genes upregulated by Nrf2, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) has received significant attention, given that the products of HO-1-induced heme catabolism have well established antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This is evidenced in numerous models of inflammatory and autoimmune disease whereby induction of HO-1 expression or administration of tolerable amounts of HO-1 reaction products can ameliorate disease symptoms. Unsurprisingly, Nrf2 and HO-1 are now considered viable drug targets for a number of conditions.In recent years, the term 'inflammaging' has been used to describe the low-grade chronic inflammation observed in aging/aged cells. Increased oxidative stress is also a key factor associated with aging and there is convincing evidence that Nrf2, not only declines with age, but that Nrf2 and HO-1 can reduce cellular senescence and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) which is now considered an underlying driver of age-related inflammatory disease. In this review, we describe the role of oxidative stress in 'inflammaging' and highlight the potential anti-aging properties of the Nrf2-HO-1 system. We also highlight established and newly emerging Nrf2 activators and their therapeutic application in age related disease.

    Keywords: Inflammaging, Oxidative Stress, Nrf2, heme oxygenase, Aging

    Received: 29 Jun 2024; Accepted: 30 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 O'Rourke, Shanley and Dunne. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Aisling Dunne, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Dublin 2, County Dublin, Ireland

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.