Cyclooxygenases (COXs) are key enzymes that convert arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. Overexpression of one of the COX isozymes, COX2, has been shown to play an important role in colorectal cancer progression. Recently, however, low expression of COX2 has been reported in a subset of colorectal and gastric cancers. Aberrant CpG island methylation and associated transcriptional silencing are c...

Although anti-cancer effects of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) inhibitors have been reported, most studies focused on the direct effects of COX2 inhibiters on colon cancer cells. On the other hand, several types of cancers express Fas ligand (FasL) and/or TRAIL and mediate apoptosis of T cells in vitro. The "counter-attack" machinery may account for the mechanisms by which tumors evade host immune sur...

Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) is an inducible enzyme synthesizing prostaglandins from arachidonic acid, which is thought to play an important role in colorectal carcinogenesis. Since the COX2 polymorphisms, if functional, may modify the carcinogenesis pathway, the associations between the reported polymorphisms and colorectal cancer risk were examined in a hospital-based case-control study. Six polym...

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), caused by loss-of-function mutations in the TSC1 or TSC2 gene, is characterized by benign tumor formation in multiple organs. Hyperactivation of mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is the primary alteration underlying TSC tumors. By analyzing Tsc2-null mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and rat uterine leiomyoma-derived Tsc2-null ELT3 cells, we det...

Plant mitochondrial genomes are highly recombinogenic, with a variety of species-specific direct and inverted repeats leading to in vivo accumulation of multiple DNA forms. In maize, the cox2 gene, which encodes subunit II of cytochrome c oxidase, lies immediately downstream of a 0.7-kilobase direct repeat, which is present in two copies in the 570-kilobase master chromosome. Promoters for cox2...

Vitiligo is a pigmentation disorder in which inflammatory mediators such as cytokines have a pivotal role in disease's pathogenesis. Interleukin 17 (IL-17A) is a proinflammatory cytokine which is involved in the induction of several proinflamatory mediators such as cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). The aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression of IL-17 and COX2 in peripheral blood leukocy...

The evidence is compelling for a role of inflammation in cardiovascular diseases; however, the chronic use of anti-inflammatory drugs for these indications has been disappointing. The recent study compares the effects of two anti-inflammatory agents [cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2) and p38 inhibitors] in a model of cardiovascular disease. The vascular, renal, and cardiac effects of 4-(4-methylsulfonylp...

BACKGROUND Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a family of COX1 and COX2 inhibitors used to reduce the synthesis of pro-inflammatory mediators. In addition, inflammation often leads to a harmful generation of nitric oxide. Efforts are being done in discovering safer NSAIDs molecules capable of inhibiting the synthesis of pro-inflammatory lipid mediators and nitric oxide to reduce ...

Advanced-stage breast cancers frequently metastasize to the bones and cause bone destruction, but the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. This study presents evidence that TGF-b–activated protein kinase 1 (TAK1) signaling in tumor cells promotes bone destruction by metastatic breast carcinoma cells, controlling expression of prometastatic factors including matrix metalloproteinase (MM...