title: Fish macrophages express a cyclo-oxygenase-2 homologue after activation.
abstract: In mammals, the increased generation of prostaglandins (PG) during the onset of inflammatory responses and activation of immune cell types has been attributed to the induction of a novel cyclo-oxygenase (COX) isoform, termed COX-2, which is distinct from the well-characterized constitutive activity (COX-1). Goldfish (Carassius auratus) macrophages exposed to bacterial lipopolysaccharide and leucocyte-derived macrophage-activating factor(s) showed a significant increase in the generation of the major COX product, PGE2, within the first 6 h of stimulation. The selective COX-2 inhibitor, NS398, inhibited this elevated generation of PGE, whereas the basal level of this product synthesized by unstimulated macrophages was unaffected by such exposure. PGE generation by goldfish macrophages was similarly inhibited by the glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, and an inhibitor of protein synthesis, cycloheximide, suggesting that this stimulation may be due to an inducible enzyme equivalent to mammalian COX-2. The complete coding sequence of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) COX-2 was obtained by PCR. The gene contains a 61 bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR), a 1821 bp open reading frame and a 771 bp 3'UTR containing multiple copies of an mRNA instability motif (ATTTA). The predicted translation product had high homology to known mammalian and chicken COX-2 (83-84%) and COX-1 (77%) sequences. Reverse-transcriptase PCR with cDNA from control and bacterially challenged fish revealed that trout COX-2 expression was not constitutive but could be induced. Overall, these studies show for the first time that the inducible isoform of COX has a long evolutionary history, probably dating back to the evolution of fish over 500 million years ago.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belosevic
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Secombes
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Rowley
mesh_terms: D000333:Aeromonas / Q000276:immunology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004790:Enzyme Induction / Q000187:drug effects; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006054:Goldfish / Q000378:metabolism*; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007975:Leukotriene B4 / Q000378:metabolism; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology; D008262:Macrophage Activation; D016215:Macrophage-Activating Factors / Q000494:pharmacology; D008264:Macrophages / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011458:Prostaglandins E / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014337:Trout / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D052246:Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; D007527:Isoenzymes; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D016215:Macrophage-Activating Factors; D011458:Prostaglandins E; D007975:Leukotriene B4; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases