Regulation of cytochrome b5 expression by miR-223 in human liver: effects on cytochrome P450 activities.

Purpose Cytochrome b 5 (b 5) is a hemoprotein that transfers electrons to several enzymes to fulfill functions in fatty acid desaturation, methemoglobin reduction, steroidogenesis, and drug metabolism. Despite the importance of b 5, the regulation of b 5 expression in human liver remains largely unknown. We investigated whether microRNA (miRNA) might be involved in the regulation of human b 5.