Heme oxygenase cleaves the heme ring at the alpha methene bridge to form biliverdin. Biliverdin is subsequently converted to bilirubin by biliverdin reductase. Under physiological conditions, the activity of heme oxygenase is highest in the spleen, where senescent erythrocytes are sequestrated and destroyed. Exhibits cytoprotective effects since excess of free heme sensitizes cells to undergo apoptosis. HMOX1 Protein, Human, Recombinant (His) is expressed in E. coli expression system with N-6xHis tag. The predicted molecular weight is 36.6 kDa and the accession number is P09601.