Life's First Chemicals
A Jekyll and Hyde enzyme?
That's what you might call the cox-2 enzyme.
A new class of drugs called cox-2 inhibitors shuts
down the enzyme when its products are destructive. The first of these
cox-2 inhibitors, called Celebrex, came to market in early 1999. Arthritis
sufferers cheered. Dubbed "super aspirin" by some newspaper headline
writers, Celebrex, and the cox-2 inhibitors in general, prevent cox-2
products from provoking joint pain and inflammation.
But
cox-2 has a second personality. S.K. Dey, university distinguished professor
of molecular and integrative physiology at the KU Medical Center, knows
all about that. For several years, Dey has researched the role of cox-enzyme-derived
products called prostaglandins. These are produced by cox enzymes during
the stage of pregnancy when the embryo burrows into the inside wall
of the uterus.
In 1997, Dey published an article in the journal Cell
that showed cox-2 to be essential for every step in early pregnancy,
including ovulation, fertilization and implantation.
Dey's work on identifying the chemical keys to successful
pregnancy continues. These days he's working to define contributions
made by specific members of the prostaglandin family. Again, there's
a split in the family. Some prostaglandins are responsible for the pain,
heat, swelling and redness of inflammation, while others maintain normal
processes in stomach, kidneys and other tissues.
Recently, Dey discovered that prostacyclin is the major
prostaglandin produced at the time the embryo implants itself into the
uterine wall. He's also identified a hormone receptor that's responsible
for prostacyclin's effects. The finding was published in the June issue
of the journal Genes and Development.
Many pregnancies are lost in early stages, and understanding
all the contributing factors is essential. That's why the National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development is keen on Dey's research, which
it has funded continuously since 1979.
