Induction of cyclooxygenase-2 in a rat gastric epithelial cell line by epiregulin and basic fibroblast growth factor

Prostaglandins play an important role in maintaining gastric mucosal integrity. Cyclooxygenases (COX-1 and -2) are the key enzymes involved in prostaglandin synthesis. COX-2 expression in gastric epithelial cells remains a subject of controversy, and a possible regulation of gastric COX-2 by growth factors has not been explored. Therefore, we studied the effect of growth factors including epiregulin, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on expression of COX-2 in a gastric epithelial cell line (RGM1) derived from normal rat gastric mucosa. Cells were incubated with 10 or 100 ng/ml of EGF. epiregulin, bFGF, or VEGF for 1, 2, 3, 6, and 24 h. COX-2 mRNA expression was determined by RT-PCR using specific COX-2 primers and COX-2 protein expression was determined by Western blotting. This study showed that COX-2 mRNA and protein are expressed in the gastric epithelial RGM1 cell line and that epiregulin and bFGF (but not VEGF) significantly increase expression of COX-2 mRNA and protein. Because PGs play an important role in mucosal defense, this study suggests that some growth factors contribute to maintaining mucosal integrity via activation of the COX-2 gene.