Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2

Prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (prostaglandin G/H synthase and cyclooxygenase) (The HUGO official symbol is PTGS2; HGNC ID, HGNC:9605), also known as cyclooxygenase-2 or COX-2, is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PTGS2 gene. Because the "COX" term is used for the stem symbol for "cytochrome c oxidase" family of genes and gene products including proteins, the "PTGS" symbol is used for the prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase (cyclooxygenase) family of genes and proteins. It is involved in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandin H2, an important precursor of prostacyclin and thromboxane A2, among others.

History

PTGS2 (COX-2) was discovered in 1991 by the Daniel Simmons laboratory at Brigham Young University.

Function

PTGS2 (COX-2), converts arachidonic acid (AA) to prostaglandin endoperoxide H2. PGHSs are targets for NSAIDs and PTGS2 (COX-2) specific inhibitors called coxibs. PGHS-2 is a sequence homodimer. Each monomer of the enzyme has a peroxidase and a PTGS (COX) active site. The PTGS (COX) enzymes catalyze the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins in a two steps. First, hydrogen is abstracted from carbon 13 of arachidonic acid, and then two molecules of oxygen are added by the PTGS2 (COX-2), giving PGG2. Second, PGG2 is reduced to PGH2 in the peroxidase active site. The synthesized PGH2 is converted to prostaglandins (PGD2, PGE2, PGF_2α), prostacyclin (PGI2), or thromboxane A2 by tissue-specific isomerases.(Figure 2)

Cox

Cox may refer to:

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Cox (surname)

The surname Cox is of English or Welsh origin, and may have originated independently in several places in Great Britain, with the variations arriving at a standard spelling only later. There are also two native Irish surnames which were anglicised into Cox.

An early record of the surname dates from 1556 with the marriage of Alicea Cox at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London. Cox is the 69th-most common surname in the United Kingdom.

Origin

One possibility of the origin is that it is a version of the Old English cocc which means "the little", and was sometimes put after the name of a leader or chieftain as a term of endearment. Surnames such as Wilcox, Willcocks and Willcox are examples of this practice: all are composed of the name William and the archaic word cocc, coming together to mean "little William". The suggestion is that only the element -cox may have endured as a surname for some families.

Another opinion is that the name is derived from the Old English cock, which means a "heap" or "mound", and was a topographic name for a man living near any heap, hill or other bundle. Names like Haycock or Haycox come from such practice, meaning from "the hay mounds" or "the hay fields". Again, the element -cox may have only been carried on in some families.

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