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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Corticosteroids induce COX-2 expression in cardiomyocytes: role of glucocorticoid receptor and C/EBP-beta.

Authors: Sun, Haipeng; Sheveleva, Elena; Xu, Beibei; Inoue, Hiroyasu; Bowden, Tim G; Chen, Qin M

Published In Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, (2008 Oct)

Abstract: Psychological stress increases the level of glucocorticoids in the circulating system. We found that dexamethasone administration in adult mice elevates the expression of COX-2 in the myocardium. With isolated neonatal cardiomyocytes, corticosterone (CT) at physiologically relevant doses (0.01-1 microM) induces the expression of COX-2 gene. The induction first appeared at 4 h and remained for at least 24 h with 1 microM CT treatment. This response is likely cardiomyocyte cell type specific since CT did not induce COX-2 expression in cardiac fibroblasts and glucocorticoids are known to suppress the expression of COX-2 in lymphocytes and several organs. Corticosteroids, but not estrogen or progesterone, induce COX-2 expression. The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist mifepristone (MF) prevented CT from inducing COX-2 gene, suggesting a GR-dependent induction in cardiomyocytes. COX-2 gene promoter deletion and mutation studies indicate a role of CCAAT/enhancer binding protein-beta (C/EBP-beta) in CT-induced COX-2 gene expression. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays revealed that CT caused the binding of both GR and C/EBP-beta to COX-2 promoter, while MF pretreatment blocked such binding. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that CT treatment induced the interaction of GR with C/EBP-beta. Small interfering RNA against C/EBP-beta prevented CT from activating COX-2 promoter or elevating COX-2 protein. Our data suggest that the interaction between GR and C/EBP-beta contributes to elevated COX-2 gene transcription by CT in cardiomyocytes.

PubMed ID: 18650268 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Animals; Animals, Newborn; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology; CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta/genetics; CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-beta/metabolism*; Cells, Cultured; Corticosterone/pharmacology; Cyclooxygenase 2/genetics; Cyclooxygenase 2/metabolism*; Dexamethasone/pharmacology; Gene Expression Regulation; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Myocytes, Cardiac/drug effects*; Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism*; RNA, Small Interfering; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Glucocorticoid/metabolism*

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