In “stressed” astrocytes, excessive HO-1 activity can lead to mitochondrial iron sequestration, macroautophagy, pathological iron deposition, and bioenergy depletion, which contribute to the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Huntington’s disease (HD) (121). Here, HMOX1 is linked to neurodegenerative disease.