HMOX1 and neurodegenerative disease: However, sustained induction of HO-1 by cobalt protoporphyrin IX [31], and overexpression of HO-1 in general [32] has been shown to lead to pathologic iron deposition and mitochondrial autophagy, processes that have been associated with the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases [33] and also with MS [34] and EAE [5].