Delivery of Soluble Heme Oxygenase 1 Cell-Penetrating Peptide into Liver Cells in in vitro and ex vivo Models of Cold Ischemia.

Background/purpose: Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice in patients with end-stage liver disease. During liver transplantation, ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) occurs, which is an inevitable consequence of the transplantation process. To reduce the extent of cellular injury, one of the proteins that have been extensively investigated is heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1), which plays an important role in protecting the organs against IRI.