Patent Abstract:
the present invention provides novel mechanisms that regulate the production of anti - inflammatory and pro - inflammatory mediators generated by 5 - lipoxygenase . in this regard , the present invention establishes that phosphorylation of 5 - lipoxygenase by protein kinase a , has a crucial role in determining the end products of 5 - lipoxygenase . with translocation to the nucleus , potent proinflammatory leukotrienes are produced , whereas following phosphorylation by protein kinase a , anti - inflammatory mediators are produced . the present invention also discloses compounds that regulate these pro - and anti - inflammatory mediators .

Detailed Description:
the instant invention demonstrates that both pio and atv augment 5 - lipoxygenase phosphorylation at ser 523 in the rat myocardium and that this effect was blocked by h - 89 , a pka inhibitor ( fig1 ). in contrast , the pro - inflammatory stimulatio with lps caused less ser 523 phosphorylation of 5lo ( fig2 ). both pio and atv caused a small increase in 5lo levels in the cytosolic fraction ( fig3 ) without detectable change in total 5lo levels ( fig1 ), suggesting translocation of 5lo into the cytosolic fraction . in contrast , - inhibiting protein kinase a with h - 89 prevented the ser 523 phosphorylation of 5 - lipoxygenase by pio and atv ( fig1 ) and caused a shift of 5 - lipoxygenase to the membranous fraction . under these conditions 5 - lipoxygenase co - immunoprecipitated with cpla2 ( fig1 ) and metabolized arachidonic acid , generated by cpla 2 , into ltb4 , a strong inflammatory mediator . in contrast , when 5 - lipoxygenase was prevented from shifting by ser 523 phosphorylation , it interacted with cox2 in the cytosolic fraction ( fig1 ) to generate 15elxa ( fig9 a ), a potent anti - inflammatory mediator . thus , it seems that ser 523 phosphorylation of 5 - lipoxygenase by protein kinase a not only prevents leukotriene ( lt ) production but also facilitates 15elxa production and therefore , is a key factor in determining whether the end - products will be pro - or anti - inflammatory mediators . based on the data presented herein , the present invention provides schematic representation of the interaction between p - 5lo and cox2 in the cytosol that results either in the production of pro - or anti - inflammatory mediators ( fig1 a - 13b ). until recently , it was thought that 5lo is expressed mainly in inflammatory cells ( polymorphonuclear leukocytes , monocytes / macrophages , mast cells , b - lymphocytes , dendritic cells , and foam cells in human atherosclerotic tissue ) [ 10 , 25 ]. however , there is growing evidence that cardiomyocytes participate in innate immunity [ 26 , 27 ]. it has been shown that cardiomyocytes respond to various injuries by producing some of the mediators that are classically associated with cells of the innate immune system [ 28 ]. massey et al showed that u - 70344a , a 5lo inhibitor , prevented the uncoupling of neonatal rat myocardial cells in cultures when exposed to arachidonic acid [ 29 ]. przygodzki et al also showed that mk886 , a 5lo inhibitor , prevented calcium ionophore ( a23187 ) induction of reactive oxygen species by neonatal rat cardiomyocytes cultures [ 30 ]. liu et al reported that 5lo and leukotrienes are essential in mediating angiotensin ii evoked increases in cytosolic free calcium in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes [ 31 ]. kuzuya et al reported that 5 - hpete production by adult canine cardiac myocytes increases after 45 minutes of ischemia . aa - 861 , a 5lo inhibitor , attenuated 5 - hpete production and hypoxia - reoxygenation cell injury [ 32 ]. these data suggest that cardiomyocytes express active 5lo . it was previously shown that 5lo was expressed in rat cardiomyocytes ( 5 , 33 ). the present invention demonstrates that rat cardiomyocytes express 5lo mrna ( fig1 ) and protein ( fig1 - 7 ). cpla 2 is a membrane bound enzyme , generating arachidonic acid from the membrane phospholipids [ 10 - 12 ]. in quiescence cells cox2 is preferentially bound to the nuclear envelope ; however , in some cells cox2 can be found inside the nucleus and / or in the endoplasmic reticulum [ 34 ]. however , upon stimulation , cytoplasmic accumulation of cox2 has been described in endothelial cells [ 34 , 35 ]. interestingly , the present invention demonstrates that the interaction between cox2 and 5lo occurred only in the cytosolic fraction and not in the membranous fraction . in contrast , the interaction between cpla 2 and 5lo occurred as expected in the membranous fraction . it could be that defects in 5lo phosphorylation could explain the muscle symptoms and / or elevation of muscle and liver enzymes associated with statin therapy . moreover , it is plausible that in patients with 5lo phosphorylation deficits , statins may not decrease inflammation and thus , may have fewer effects on atherosclerosis . 5lo activating protein ( flap , also known as alox5ap ) activates 5lo and facilitate the shift of 5lo to the perinuclear membrane [ 36 . 37 ]. increased production of leukotrienes due to gene mutations in 5lo [ 38 ], flap in caucasians [ 39 - 43 ] and japanese [ 44 ], and in leukotriene a4 hydroxylase in african american population [ 45 ] has been associated with an increased risk of stroke and / or myocardial infarction . however , it is unclear how statins and / or pio affect arachidonic acid metabolism in patients with these mutations . it might be possible that by ser 523 phosphorylation of 5lo , statins and pio prevent 5lo translocation and therefore , attenuate the pro - inflammatory state . on the other hand , it might be possible that these agents cannot prevent this intracellular shift and by upregulating cpla 2 [ 17 - 19 ] and activating 5lo , augment the production of leukotrienes in patients with such mutations . cpla 2 generates arachidonic acid , which has been shown to promote activation and translocation of 5lo to the perinuclear membrane [ 46 ]. the present invention contemplates exploring this issue in several experimental models . there are also implications in medical fields other than atherosclerosis , as the increased production of leukotrienes by cox2 and 5lo has been implicated with increased risks for colon cancer [ 47 ], alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease [ 48 - 50 ] and asthma [ 51 ]. as statins may reduce the risk of colon cancer [ 52 ] and the progression of alzheimer &# 39 ; s disease [ 53 ]; it is plausible that statins ( and pio ) may have a role in preventing the membranous shift of 5lo and hence , the production of leukotrienes in various disease states . phosphorylation as a mechanism responsible for the translocation of apoptotic mediators to the peri - nuclear membrane in response to oxidative stress is not restricted to 5lo ; bcl - 2 and bcl - xl are also phosphorylated and inactivated as anti - apoptotic proteins in response to trauma [ 54 , 55 ]. not only inflammatory cells , but also myocardial and endothelial cells can produce arachidonic acid metabolites such as ltb4 and 15elxa in response to various stimuli . 5lo phosphorylation at ser 523 by pka prevents the membranous shift of 5lo and thus , the production of ltb4 . instead , the cytosolic - bound 5lo processes 15 - r - hete , produced by cytosolic cox2 , resulting in the production of 15elxa , a potent anti - inflammatory mediator . prevention of 5lo translocation towards the perinuclear membrane by protein kinase a mediated phosphorylation at ser 523 may explain in part the anti - inflammatory and anti - atherosclerosis effects of statins and pio . in one embodiment of the present invention , there is provided a method of attenuating a pro - inflammatory state specific for a disease in an individual comprising : administering a pharmacologically effective dose of a compound ( s ) that phosphorylates 5 - lipoxygenase , prevents translocation of the 5 - lipoxygenase from cytosol to the peri - nuclear membrane or both , thereby attenuating the pro - inflammatory state specific for the disease in the individual . in such a method , the 5 - lipoxygenase may be phosphorylated at serine - 523 residue of 5 - lipoxygenase . the cytosolic phosphorylated 5 - lipoxygenase may interact with cox - 2 to produce 15 - epilipoxin - a4 . additionally , compound may directly or indirectly activate protein kinase a such that the activated protein kinase a phosphorylates 5 - lipoxygenase . examples of such compounds may include but are not limited to hmgcoa reductase inhibitor , atorvastatin or ppar - g agonist , pioglitazone , sitagliptin or a combination of thereof . further , the pro - inflammatory effect may be due to absence of phosphorylation on serine - 523 , translocation of 5 - lipoxygenase to the nuclear membrane , metabolism of arachidonic acid into leukotriene b4 or a combination thereof . examples of the disease state may include but is not limited to artherosclerosis , arthiritis , asthma , cancer , stroke , myocardial infarction or alzheimers . in another embodiment , there is provided a method of decreasing the risk or progression of a disease in an individual comprising : administering a pharmacologically effective dose of a compound that inhibits the production of leukotriene - b 4 to said individual , thereby decreasing the risk or progression of a disease in the individual . the administration of the compound may result in direct or indirect activation of protein kinase a . additionally , the activation of protein kinase a might result in phosphorylation of serine - 523 residue of 5 - lipoxygenase . further , this phosphorylation may prevent the localization of 5 - lipoxygenase from cytosol to the perinuclear membrane . furthermore , the prevention of perinuclear localization might result in decreased leukotriene - b 4 production and an increased 15 - epilipoxin - a4 production . examples of the compound administered herein may include but is not limited to a hmgcoa reductase inhibitor , atorvastatin or the ppar - gagonist , pioglitazone , sitagliptin , or a combination thereof . furthermore , examples of the disease state may include but is not limited to artherosclerosis , arthritis , asthma , cancer , stroke , myocardial infarction or alzheimers . in yet another embodiment , there is provided a method of augmenting anti - inflammatory effects in an individual in need of such augmentation , comprising : administering a pharmacologically effective dose of a compound that phosphorylates serine - 523 residue of 5 - lipoxygenase such said phosphorylation of 5 - lipoxygenase regulates the production of anti - inflammatory and pro - infammatory metabolites of arachidonic acid thereby augmenting the anti - inflammatory effects in said individual . the compound may phosphorylate serine - 523 residue of 5 - lipoxygenase by directly or indirectly activating protein kinase a . further , the phosphorylation of 5 - lipoxygenase may prevent the localization of cytosolic 5 - lipoxygenase to the perinuclear membrane resulting in interaction of phosphorylated 5 - lipoxygenase with cox2 and production of anti - inflammatory metabolite of arachidonic acid and inhibition of pro - inflammatory metabolite of arachidonic acid . examples of the pro - inflammatory metabolite of arachidonic acid may include but is not limited to leukotriene b 4 and the examples of the anti - inflammatory metabolite of arachidonic acid may include but is not limited to 15 - epilipoxin - a 4 . moreover , the 15 - epilipoxin - a 4 produced may mediate the anti - inflammatory effects by inhibiting the production of il - 6 and tnf - a . examples of the compound being administered may include but is not limited to a hmgcoa reductase inhibitor , atorvastatin or ppar - g agonist , pioglitazone , sitagliptin , or a combination thereof . further , examples of individual in need of augmentation of anti - inflammatory effect may include but is not limited to those suffering from artherosclerosis , arthritis , asthma , cancer , stroke , myocardial infarction or alzheimer &# 39 ; s . in yet another embodiment , there is provided a method for screening for a drug useful for augmenting anti - inflammatory effects in a disease state comprising : contacting a sample peptide comprising the serine - 523 residue of 5 - lipoxygenase with a test compound ; providing the necessary enzymes and atp , and determining the effect of the compound on the phosphorylation of the serine - 523 residue , wherein phosphorylation of the serine - 523 residue of the peptide in the presence of the test compound indicates that the test compound is the drug useful for augmenting anti - inflammatory effects in said disease state . examples of the drug may include but is not limited to a drug that is an activator of protein kinase a , that prevents localization of 5 - lipoxygenase to the peri - nuclear membrane or both . examples of the disease state may include but is not limited to artherosclerosis , arthiritis , asthma , cancer , stroke , myocardial infarction or alzheimers . in yet another embodiment , there is provided a method of ameliorating the side effects of statin therapy in an individual comprising : administering pharmacologically effective amounts of a protein kinase a activator in combination with statins and / or thiazolidinediones , where the administration ameliorates the side - effects of statin therapy in the individual . the side effects may comprise muscle aches and / or elevation of muscle and / or liver enzymes . the administration of protein kinase a activator may lead to phosphorylation of serine - 523 residue on 5 - lipoxygenase and may prevent translocation of said phosphorylated 5 - lipoxygenase from the cytosol to perinuclear membrane , such that the phosphorylated cytosolic 5 - lipoxygenase may interact with cox - 2 , producing 1 5 - epilipoxin a4 and inhibiting the production of leukotriene - b4 . additionally , the production of the 15 - epilipoxin - a 4 may inhibit the production of il - 6 and tnf - a . examples of the individual on statin therapy may include but is not limited to those suffering from artherosclerosis , arthritis , asthma , cancer , stroke , myocardial infarction or alzheimer &# 39 ; s . in still yet another embodiment of the present invention there is provided a method of inducing myocardial protection in an individual comprising : administrating pharmacologically effective amounts of a protein kinase a activator in combination with statins and / or thiazolidinediones , where the administration synergistically reduces the infarct size , thereby inducing myocardial protection in the individual . the protein kinase a activator may increase the intracellular levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate ( camp ) such that said increased camp levels activates protein kinase a . examples of such protein kinase a activators may include but is not limited to cilostazol or sitagliptin . additionally , examples of statin may include but is not limited to — atrovastatin , and the examples of thiazolidinedione may include but is not limited to pioglitazone . further , the individual may be suffering from a myocardial infarction . as used herein , the term , “ a ” or “ an ” may mean one or more . as used herein in the claim ( s ), when used in conjunction with the word “ comprising ”, the words “ a ” or “ an ” may mean one or more than one . as used herein “ another ” or “ other ” may mean at least a second or more of the same or different claim element or components thereof . the following abbreviations have been used herein : 5 - lo : 5 - lipoxygenase , atv : atorvastatin , and pio : pioglitazone . the drugs described herein may be administered independently one or more times to achieve , maintain or improve upon a therapeutic effect . it is well within the skill of an artisan to determine dosage or whether a suitable dosage of the composition comprises a single administered dose or multiple administered doses . an appropriate dosage depends on the subject &# 39 ; s health , attainment of the required effect of the drug ( for instance , prevention of formation of blood clots , prevention of inflammation , etc ) and the formulation used . additionally , although the present invention has demonstrated the effects of statins such as atorvastatin and thiazolidinedione such as pioglitazine , the present invention contemplates that other compound belonging to this group will also exhibit similar effects . hence , examples of statins may include but is not limited to atorvastatin , and the examples of thiazolidinediones may include but is not limited to pioglitazone . similarly , although the present invention has demonstrated the effect of cilostazol in activating protein kinase a by increasing camp levels , the present invention contemplates other compounds which increase camp levels may also activate protein kinase a . hence , such compounds may include but is not limited to cilostazol , sitagliptin . accordingly , the these compounds will also exhibit similar synergistic effects . the following examples are given for the purpose of illustrating various embodiments of the invention and are not meant to limit the present invention in any fashion . one skilled in the art will appreciate readily that the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects and obtain the ends and advantages mentioned , as well as those objects , ends and advantages inherent herein . changes therein and other uses which are encompassed within the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the claims will occur to those skilled in the art . h - 89 , monoclonal anti - b actin antibodies and monoclonal anti - myosin antibodies were purchased from sigma ( st . louis , mo . ), anti - 5 - lipoxygenase and anti - ser 523 phosphorylated 5 - lipoxygenase antibodies , polyclonal anti - cox2 antibodies and ltb4 eia kit from cayman chemicals ( ann arbor , mich . ), and anti - cpla2 antibodies from cell signaling technology ( danvers , mass .). dapi was purchased from vector laboratories ( burlingame , calif . ), goat anti - mouse alexa 488 antibodies from molecular probes ( eugene , oreg . ), and universal negative controls for mouse and rabbit igg from dako corporation ( carinteria , calif .). elisa kit for 15elxa was purchased from oxford biomedical research ( oxford , mich .). pio was provided by takeda pharmaceuticals north america , inc . ( lincolnshire , ill .) and atv by pfizer pharmaceuticals ( new york , n . y .). male sprague - dawley rats received humane care in compliance with ‘ the guide for the care and use of laboratory animals ’ published by the us national institutes of health [ nih publication no . 85 - 23 , revised 1996 ]. rats received : 1 ) pio ( 10 mg / kg / d ); 2 ) atv ( 10 mg / kg / d ); 3 ) pio ( 10 mg / kg / d )+ h89 ( 20 mg / kg ); 4 ) atv ( 10 mg / kg / d )+ h89 ( 20 mg / kg ); 5 ) h89 ( 20 mg / kg ) or 6 ) water alone ( control ). pio and atv were suspended in water and administered by gastric gavage once daily for 3 days ; h - 89 was dissolved in dmso ( final concentration 5 % v / v ) and injected intraperitoneally on the third day . rats in groups 5 and 6 received water by gastric gavage once daily for 3 days . rats in groups 1 , 2 and 6 received intraperitoneal inkection of dmso 5 %. sixteen hours after the injection , rats were euthanized and the hearts explanted for further analyses . in another experiment , rats received 3 - day pretreatment with : 1 ) water ( sham ); 2 ) pio ( 10 mg / kg / d ); 3 ) atv ( 10 mg / kg / d ); 4 ) pio ( 10 mg / kg / d )+ atv ( 10 mg / kg / d ); or 5 ) lps ( 10 mg / kg ). pio and atv were administered by oral gavage once daily as above ; lps was administered intravenously . in addition , rats in groups 1 - 4 received intravenous saline on the fourth day , whereas rats in group 1 and 5 received water by gastric gavage once daily for 3 days and the lps injection on the third day . sixteen hours after the injection , rats were euthanized and the hearts explanted for further analyses . cardiac myocytes were isolated from adult sprague - dawley rats ( 250 - 300 g , male ). animals were heparinized ( 1 , 000 - 2 , 000 units i . p .) 5 min before being anesthetized with ketamine ( 100 mg / kg ) and xylazine ( 10 mg / kg ), and the hearts were removed and placed in ice - cold heart media solution ( in mmol / l : 112 nacl , 5 . 4 kcl , 1 mgcl2 , 9 nah2po4 , and 11 . 1 d - glucose ; supplemented with 10 hepes , 30 taurine , 2 dl - carnitine , and 2 creatine , ph . 7 . 4 ). the hearts were perfused retrogradely in a langendorff apparatus with ca 2 + - free heart media for 5 min at 5 ml / min at 37 ° c ., followed by perfusion with ca 2 + - free heart media containing collagenase ii , 210 u / mg ( worthington , lakewood , n . j .) for 20 min . after perfusion , both ventricles were removed from the heart and minced in collagenase ii - containing heart media for 10 - 15 min . the cell solution was then washed several times to remove collagenase ii and reexposed to 1 . 2 mm ca2 + over 25 min to produce ca2 + - tolerant cardiac myocytes . myocytes were then plated in 4 % fbs on laminin ( 2 μg / cm 2 )- coated plates for 1 h and incubated at 37 ° c . in 5 % co2 for 12 - 24 h before experiments ( 21 ). cells were incubated with 1 ) vehicle ( 0 . 07 % ethanol ); 2 ) pio ( 10 μm )+ atv ( 10 μm ); 3 ) h - 89 ( 0 . 1 μm ); or 4 ) pio + atv + h - 89 for 12 hours . the supernatants were collected directly for ltb4 analyses by elisa and the cells were harvested for immunoblotting . in addition , cells were plated in 8 - chamber slides , received the same treatment as above and were used for immunohistochemical staining . the hearts were rapidly explanted , rinsed in cold pbs ( ph 7 . 4 ), containing 0 . 16 mg / ml heparin to remove red blood cells and clots , frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at − 70 ° c . myocardial samples from the anterior left ventricular wall were homogenized in ethanol ( 5 ml / g ) and centrifuged at 10 , 000 g × 15 min at 4 ° c . the supernatant was diluted with water and acidified to ph 3 . 5 with 1m hcl . the sample was loaded into c - 18 sep - pak light column ( waters corporation , milford , mass .) and washed with 1 ml of water followed by 1 ml of petroleum ether . the sample was eluted with 2 ml of methyl formate . the methyl formate was evaporated with n 2 and the residue was dissolved in extraction buffer . the manufacturer instruction for the 15elxa and ltb4 immunoassay kits were followed . myocardial samples ( 0 . 25 g ) were homogenized , mixed with buffer a mix [ hepes ( ph 7 . 9 ) 10 mm , kcl 10 mm , edta 10 mm , dtt 100 mm , protease inhibitor cocktail , and igepal 10 %, ( sigma , st lois , mo . )], homogenized again and incubated for 15 min on ice , and centrifuged at 850 × g for 10 min at 4 ° c . the supernatant was discharged , buffer a mix was added again and the samples incubated for an additional 15 min on ice , and centrifuged at 15 , 000 × g for 3 min at 40 c . the supernatant contains the cytosolic fraction was collected . the pellet was resuspended in 150 μl of buffer b mix [ hepes ( ph 7 . 9 ) 20 mm , nacl 0 . 4m , edta 1 mm , glycerol 10 %, protease inhibitor cocktail , and igepal 10 %], the tubes were shaked on ice at 200 rpm for 2 h , centrifuged at 15 , 000 × g for 5 min at 4 ° c ., and supernatants were collected as the nuclear fraction . the cytosolic and nuclear fractions were used for immunoblotting for 5lo . the hearts were rapidly explanted , rinsed in cold pbs ( ph 7 . 4 ), containing 0 . 16 mg / ml heparin to remove red blood cells and clots , frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at − 70 ° c . myocardial samples from the anterior left ventricular wall were homogenized in ripa lysis buffer ( santa cruz biotechnology , santa cruz , calif .) and centrifuged at 14 , 000 rpm for 15 min at 4 ° c . the supernatant was collected and the total protein concentration was determined using the lowry protein assay . for immunoblotting of total 5lo in the in - vivo experiment the cytosolic and nuclear fraction , separately was used . the protein samples with loading buffer were run in 4 - 20 % tri - hcl ready gel at a 100v for 2 h until the desired molecular weight bands were separated . after electrophoresis , the gel was equilibrated in transfer buffer ( 25 mm tris , 193 mm glycine , 0 . 1 % sds and 10 % methanol ) and the proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose membrane . the protein signals were quantified by an image - scanning - densitometer and the strength of each protein signal was normalized to the corresponding b - actin stain signal . data are expressed as a ratio between the protein and the corresponding b - actin signal density . immunofluorescent labeling was performed on paraffin sections ( 5 - μm ) of 4 % formaldehyde - fixed rat cardiac tissue , as described previously ( 22 ). the primary antibodies were mouse anti - myosin igg , rabbit anti - cox2 igg and rabbit anti - 5 - lipoxygenase igg , and diluted in 1 : 2000 , 1 : 1000 , and 1 : 2000 , respectively . the secondary antibodies were goat anti - mouse alexa 488 ( diluted in 1 : 500 ) for mouse primary antibody and goat anti - rabbit alexa 594 ( diluted in 1 : 500 ) for rabbit primary antibodies . slides were counterstained with dapi and mounted with cytoseal xyl mounting medium . the specificity of mouse and rabbit primary antibodies was tested by substituting them with universal negative controls for mouse and rabbit igg . all the slides were viewed under an olympus bx51 microscope [ images recorded by a dp70 digital camera ( olympus optical co ., ltd ., tokyo , japan )] or confocal microscope ( bio - rad 2100 ( hercules , calif .). for co - immunoprecipitation , myocardial cytosolic , membranous and nuclear fractions ( 500 μg ) were incubated with anti - 5lo antibodies for 4 h followed by overnight incubation at 4 ° c . with protein - a - agarose . the agarose beads were collected by centrifugation and sds / page western immunoblotting was performed with the supernatant fraction . the anti - 5lo precipitates were subjected to immunoblotting with anti - cox2 or anti - cpla 2 antibodies . equal amounts of total cellular rna were reverse - transcribed with oligo ( dt ) primer by use of amv reverse transcriptase ( applied biosystems ). transcribed cdnas ( 40 ng ) were used for real time pcr with specific primers : rat alox5 . ( alox5f : agccaacaagattgttcccatcgc ( seq id no : 1 ) alox5r : tggcaataccgaacacctcagaca ( seq id no : 2 )), and rat glyceraldehyde - 3 - phosphate dehydrogenase ( gapdh )( 5 ′- acccccaatgtatccgttgt - 3 ′ ( seq id no : 3 ), 5 ′- tactccttggaggccatgta - 3 ′ ( seq id no : 4 )). the ct ( threshold cycle ) is defined as the number of cycles required for the fluorescence signal to exceed the detection threshold . expression of the alox5 relative to the gapdh was calculated as the different between the threshold values of these two genes . melting curve analysis was performed during real - time pcr to analyze and verify the specificity of the reaction . the amount of target ( 2 − δδct ) was obtained by normalized to endogenous reference ( gapdh ) and relative to a calibrator ( average of the control samples ). the values was given as the means ± s . e . of four independent experiments . as positive controls we used rat white blood cells from a rat at baseline and 16 h after intravenous injection of lps ( 10 mg / kg ). at first , immunoblotting was used to assess the effect of pio and atv , alone or with h - 89 in myocardial levels of total 5lo and p - 5lo in the whole cell homogenate ( fig1 ). pio and atv did not affect total 5lo concentration , but they increased myocardial levels of ser 523 phosphorylated 5lo . h - 89 alone did not affect total 5lo or p - 5lo levels , however , it completely blocked the increase in p - 5lo by both pio and atv . the effects of pio and atv were compared to that of lps on 5lo phosphorylation ( fig2 ). pio and atv alone or in combination , caused a significantly greater increase in 5lo phospholylation than lps . for further characterization of the effects of pio and atv on 5lo expression and translocation , the immunoblotting was performed separately in the cytosolic , membranous and nuclear fractions of the myocardial cells ( fig3 ). pio and atv caused a small , yet significant increase in 5lo levels in the cytosolic fraction . in contrast , they had no detectable effect on the 5lo levels in the membranous fraction . h - 89 alone had no significant effect on 5lo levels in both the cytosolic and membranous fractions . on the other hand , when h - 89 was combined with either pio or atv , there were significant decreases in 5lo levels in the cytosolic fraction and significant increases in the membranous fraction , suggesting translocation of 5lo from the cytosolic fraction to the membranous fraction . there was no expression of 5lo in the nuclear fraction in all groups studied . subsequently , immunofluorescence was used to determine localization of 5lo in - vivo in myocardial tissue of rats pretreated with lps , pio + atv or vehicle alone . pio + atv caused enhanced staining of 5lo in the cytoplasm of myocytes , whereas lps caused migration of 5lo to the perinuclear membrane without an apparent increase in overall intensity ( fig4 ). the 5lo localization in rat cardiomyocyte cultures was further characterized after incubation with pio + atv in the presence and absence of h - 89 , a specific pka inhibitor . 5lo was expressed in the cytoplasm of myosin - positive cells ( fig5 ). pio + atv also enhanced 5lo staining in cytoplasm . h - 89 alone had no effect on 5lo expression or distribution ; however , when combined with pio + atv there was a shift of 5lo to the nucleus . confocal microscopy (× 120 magnification ) shows that in the pio + atv + h - 89 treated cells , 5lo is localized around , but not inside the nucleus ( fig6 ). pio + atv increased the expression of cox2 in the cytoplasm ( fig7 ), and h - 89 had no effect on this enhancement , but did cause a shift of 5lo to the nuclear membrane . pio + atv had no affect on total 5lo levels ( data not shown ), but did increase p - 5lo levels in the cell cultures ( fig8 ). the 5lo phosphorylation was almost completely blocked by h - 89 . pio + atv increased the levels of 15elxa . h - 89 alone had no effect ; however , it attenuated the pio + atv augmentation of 15elxa levels ( fig9 a ). finally , whereas pio + atv alone and h - 89 alone had no significant effect on ltb4 , h - 89 given together with pio + atv , significantly increased myocardial ltb4 levels ( fig9 b ). using whole cell lysate , it is demonstrated herein that in the control animals there was no co - immunoprecipitation of either cox2 or cpla 2 . however , in rats treated with either pio or atv , cox2 , but not cpla 2 , precipitated with 5lo . in contrast , in rats treated with pio or atv in combination with h - 89 , 5lo precipitated with cpla2 , but not with cox2 ( fig1 ). to further characterize the location of these interactions , the co - immunoprecipitation were performed in the cytosolic and membranous fractions of the same hearts ( fig1 ). co - immunoprecipitation of 5lo with cox2 in the atv or pio treated rats occurred only in the cytosolic fraction . in contrast , the interaction between cpla 2 and 5lo in the rats treated with h - 89 combined with pio or atv occurred in the membranous fraction . to confirm that adult rat myocardial cells expressed 5lo , rtpcr was used herein . white blood cells isolated from rat blood at basal condition ( control ) or 16 h after stimulation with 5lo served as positive controls [ 24 ]. both adult rat cardiomyocytes and white blood cells express mrna for 5lo ( fig1 ). pio , atv and h - 89 alone or in combination did not affect 5lo mrna levels in the cardiomyocytes . lps increased 5lo expression in the white blood cells . synergistic effects of a protein kinase a activator and atrovastatin on myocardial protection the effects of cilostazol ( pletal ) and atorvastatin on myocardial protection was measured in a rat infarct model . pletal is a phosphodiesterase iii inhibitor , thus increasing intracellular camp levels . camp activates pka . atv at 2 mg / kg / d had no effect . cilostazol 20 mg / kg / d reduced infarct size . however , when combined with atv 2 mg / kg / d the effect was much greater . there are 8 rats in the control and atv 2 mg / kg / d groups and 6 rats in the cilostazol and the combination groups . infarct size in the atv 2 mg / kg / d ( 30 . 48 ± 1 . 46 %) is not different from the controls ( 33 . 97 ± 2 . 76 %). the cilostazol group ( 15 . 47 ± 1 . 61 %) is significantly smaller than the controls ( p & lt ; 0 . 001 ). the combination ( 4 . 31 ± 0 . 48 %) is significantly different (& lt ; 0 . 001 ) from the controls and atv 2 mg / kg and (= 0 . 006 ) versus the cilostazol alone group . 1 . agarwal , r . 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