Synonyms
Definition
Cyclooxygenases are enzymes which synthesize prostaglandins.
Characteristics
Two isoenzymes of cyclooxygenase have been characterized: cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1; Ptgs-1) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2; Ptgs-2).
Cyclooxygenase-1
In the 1930s, Goldblatt in England (Goldblatt 1935) and von Euler in Sweden (von Euler 1934) found that seminal fluid contained activity that contracted uterine smooth muscle, and also caused a fall in blood pressure. Von Euler identified the active principle as a lipid-soluble acid, which he named “prostaglandin” (PG) because he thought it originated from the prostate gland. In the 1960s, technical advances allowed the characterization of the PGs as a family of lipid compounds with a unique structure. They proved to be 20-carbon unsaturated carboxylic acids with a cyclopentane ring, and in 1964, PGE2 was synthesized using arachidonic acidand an enzyme preparation from ram seminal...
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References
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Botting, R.M. (2013). Cyclooxygenases in Biology and Disease. In: Gebhart, G.F., Schmidt, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_976
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