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. 2002 May;301(2):494-500.
doi: 10.1124/jpet.301.2.494.

Role of cyclooxygenase-2 in neuronal cell cycle activity and glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity

Mana Mirjany  1 , Lap Ho, Giulio Maria Pasinetti
Affiliations

Role of cyclooxygenase-2 in neuronal cell cycle activity and glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity

Mana Mirjany et al. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2002 May.

Abstract

In previous studies we found that neuronal overexpression of human cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in transgenic mice potentiated excitotoxicity in vivo and in vitro. To clarify the molecular mechanisms involved in COX-2-mediated potentiation of excitotoxicity, we used cDNA microarray to identify candidate genes the expression of which is altered in the cerebral cortex of homozygous human hCOX-2 transgenic mice. We found that the mRNA expression of the cell cycle kinase (CDK) inhibitor-inhibitor kinase (INK) p18(INK4), a specific inhibitor of CDK 4,6, which controls the activation of the retinoblastoma (Rb) tumor suppressor protein phosphorylation, was decreased in the brain of adult hCOX-2 homozygous transgenics. Conversely, chronic treatment of the hCOX-2 transgenics with the preferential COX-2 inhibitor nimesulide reversed the hCOX-2-mediated decrease of cortical p18(INK4) mRNA expression in the brain. Further in vitro studies revealed that in primary cortico-hippocampal neurons derived from homozygous hCOX-2 transgenic mice, COX-2 overexpression accelerates glutamate-mediated apoptotic damage that is prevented by the CDK inhibitor flavoperidol. Moreover, treatment of wild-type primary cortico-hippocampal neuron cultures with the COX-2 preferential inhibitor nimesulide significantly attenuated glutamate-mediated apoptotic damage, which coincided with inhibition of glutamate-mediated pRb phosphorylation. These data indicate that hCOX-2 overexpression causes neuronal cell cycle deregulation in the brain and provides further rationale for targeting neuronal COX-2 in neuroprotective therapeutic research.

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