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Mediators of Inflammation
Volume 1 (1992), Issue 4, Pages 223-233
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/S0962935192000346

Molecular evolution of enzymes involved in the arachidonic acid cascade

Hiroyuki Toh,1 Yoshihiro Urade,2 and Tadashi Tanabe3

1Protein Engineering Research Institute, 6-2-3, Furuedai, Suita 565, Japan
2International Research Laboratories, CIBA-GEIGY (Japan), 10-66, Miyuki-Cho, Takarazuka 665, Japan
3National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, 5-7-1, Fujisiro-dai, Suita 565, Japan

Copyright © 1992 Hindawi Publishing Corporation. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The metabolic pathway called the arachidonic acid cascade produces a wide range of eicosanoids, such as prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leukotrienes with potent biological activities. Recombinant DNA techniques have made it possible to determine the nucleotide sequences of cDNAs and/or genomic structures for the enzymes involved in the pathway. Sequence comparison analyses of the accumulated sequence data have brought great insights into the structure, function and molecular evolution of the enzymes. This paper reviews the sequence comparison analyses of the enzymes involved in the arachidonic acid cascade.