Cyclolinteinone, a sesterterpene from sponge Cacospongia linteiformis, prevents inducible nitric oxide synthase and inducible cyclo-oxygenase protein expression by blocking nuclear factor-κB activation in J774 macrophages

Abstract

<jats:p>We investigated the effect of cyclolinteinone, a sesterterpene from Caribbean sponge Cacospongia linteiformis, on inducible NO synthase (iNOS) and cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) protein expression in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated J774 macrophages. Incubation of J774 cells with LPS (1 μg/ml) caused an increase of both iNOS and COX-2 protein expression, which was prevented in a concentration-dependent fashion by cyclolinteinone (12.5, 25 and 50 μM). Electrophoretic mobility-shift assay indicated that cyclolinteinone blocked the activation of nuclear factor-ĸB (NF-ĸB), a transcription factor necessary for either iNOS or COX-2 induction. Cyclolinteinone also blocked disappearance of IĸB-α from cytosolic fraction and nuclear translocation of NF-ĸB subunits p50 and p65. These results show that cyclolinteinone down-regulates iNOS and COX-2 protein expression by inhibiting NF-ĸB activation and suggest that it may represent a novel anti-inflammatory compound capable of controlling the excessive production of prostaglandins and nitric oxide occurring in several inflammatory diseases.