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We have investigated the mechanism of COX-2 (cyclo-oxygenase 2)-dependent inhibition of apoptosis in liver, a key pathway underlying proliferative actions of COX-2 in liver cancers, cirrhosis, chronic hepatitis C infection and regeneration after partial hepatectomy. Stable expression of COX-2 in CHL (Chang liver) cells induced proliferation, with an increase in the proportion of cells in S-phase, but no other significant changes in cell-cycle distribution. This was associated with a marked inhibition of the apoptotic response to serum deprivation, an effect mimicked by treating empty-vector-transfected control cells (CHL-V cells) with prostaglandin E2 and prevented in COX-2-expressing cells (CHL-C cells) treated with selective inhibitors of COX-2. Serum-deprived CHL-V cells displayed several indicators of activation of intrinsic apoptosis: caspases 9 and 3 activated within 6 h and caspase 8 within 18 h, Bax expression was induced, cytochrome c was released to the cytosol, and PARP-1 [poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1] cleavage was evident in nuclei. COX-2 expression blocked these events, concomitant with reduced expression of p53 and promotion of Akt phosphorylation, the latter indicating activation of survival pathways. CHL cells were resistant to stimulation of the extrinsic pathway with anti-Fas antibody. Moreover, in vivo expression of GFP (green fluorescent protein)-labelled COX-2 in mice by hydrodynamics-based transient transfection conferred resistance to caspase 3 activation and apoptosis induced by stimulation of Fas.

The presence of the calcium-independent cytokine-inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) has been investigated in rat placenta from day 19 of gestation till delivery. iNOS has been detected at the mRNA, enzyme activity and protein levels in complete placenta. Immunocytochemical detection of iNOS was heterogeneously distributed in control placenta. Intraperitoneal injection of pregnant rats at 21 days of gestation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) increased the iNOS immunoreactivity in the decidua basalis of the placenta, and, when the mRNA levels and enzyme activity were measured in total tissue, a moderate increase (approx. 160%) was observed. A constitutive nuclear factor κB activity was observed in placenta from both control and LPS-treated animals. These results indicate constitutive expression of iNOS in rat placenta.

The effect of cycloheximide (CHX) on the mRNA expression of the cytokine-inducible, calcium-independent nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was investigated in fetal hepatocytes stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or pro-inflammatory cytokines. In the presence of CHX the LPS-dependent iNOS mRNA levels were reduced, whereas the response to pro-inflammatory cytokines was enhanced. Because iNOS transcription is highly dependent on the activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), this factor was evaluated by electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and a close correlation between NF-κB activity and iNOS mRNA levels was observed. CHX itself potentiated the degradation of the IκBα and IκBβ inhibitory subunits (IκB is inhibitory κB) of the NF-κB complex, and therefore the loss of LPS-dependent iNOS mRNA expression cannot be attributed to a blockage in the activation of NF-κB. These results suggest the existence of a CHX-sensitive pathway in the expression of iNOS mediated by LPS, a mechanism that is not involved in the response to pro-inflammatory cytokines.

A concerted activation of transcription factors involved in the transactivation of type II NO synthase (iNOS) gene occurred after partial hepatectomy (PH), resulting in the transient expression of iNOS. The corresponding mRNA and protein levels of iNOS reached a maximum at 4 h and 8 h post-PH respectively. This induction was preceded by an early and transient activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB). Analysis of the κB inhibitory (I) proteins showed an important role for IκBα in the process of NF-κB activation, whereas the contribution of IκBβ was less evident. Interferon regulatory factor 1, which has been described as an important activator of iNOS expression, was up-regulated after PH but failed to bind to the corresponding DNA binding sequences of the iNOS promoter. The transcriptional control of iNOS after PH, was compared with the events associated with the hepatic expression of this enzyme in animals challenged with lipopolysaccharide, showing a differential pattern of transcription-factor activation and IκB degradation between both models. Transfection of hepatoma cell lines with iNOS promoter constructs, followed by stimulation with post-PH sera, revealed the requirement of NF-κB activation for iNOS expression. These data suggest that there is an important role for the restricted NF-κB activation in the temporal pattern of iNOS expression in regenerating liver.