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Title: Regulation of cyclooxygenase expression in cultured vascular cells

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5600762

Arachidonic acid metabolism in vascular tissue results in synthesis of prostacylin. The key enzyme in this synthesis pathway, cyclooxygenase, is down-regulated through self-inactivation. An analogous refractory state is produced by aspirin which irreversibly acetylates the enzyme. To further understand this phenomenon, the inactivation and recovery of cyclooxygenase activity was assayed in cultured ray vascular smooth muscle cells using exogenously added arachidonic acid. Self-inactivation of cyclooxygenase was observed following treatment with micromolar amounts of arachidonic acid. The recovery of cyclooxygenase activity following self-inactivation was analogous to that observed following aspirin-inactivation in that it depended on protein synthesis and required either serum or EGF. Two additional factors, TGF-{beta} and uric acid, were found to enhance the stimulation of cyclooxygenase recovery by EGF. A defined medium containing 10 ng/mL EGF, 1 ng/mL TGF{beta} and 0.1 mM uric acid duplicated the cyclooxygenase recovery activity of 10% serum. Stimulation of cyclooxygenase activity by EGF and TGF-{beta} was inhibited by cycloheximide but not by actinomycin-D, indicating a link to increased translation of pre-existing mRNA. A lack of significant effect on overall protein synthesis by EGF and TGF-{beta}, measured by ({sup 35}S)-methionine incorporation under conditions where a multi-fold increase in cyclooxygenase activity was seen, indicates that the translational regulation of a small fraction of total mRNA and possibly cyclooxygenase is occurring.

Research Organization:
George Washington Univ., Washington, DC (USA)
OSTI ID:
5600762
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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