June 15, 2004 COX-2 Enzymes Modulate DNA Damage Study Provides
Insights Into COX-2 Inhibitors’ (Boston, MA) - In an ongoing
effort to understand the link between oxidative stress and
cancer, Ian Blair, PhD, Director of the Center for Cancer
Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine, and colleagues have discovered the first evidence in
cells that cyclooxygenase-2 enzymes (COX-2) can cause DNA damage
and that the inhibition of that damage may be important in
preventing cancer. Blair will report these findings at the
annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology (ASBMB)/8th International Union of
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Conference in Boston. He will
participate in a press briefing at the meeting starting at 11:00
EST, Tuesday June 15. Using cells transfected with COX-2
developed at Vanderbilt University, Blair and his team showed
that COX-2 can cause DNA damage. “This now makes the link
between cyclooxygenases, lipid hydroperoxides, and DNA damag