Mechanism of free radical oxygenation of polyunsaturated fatty acids by cyclooxygenases

COX proteins hold a special fascination for biomedical scientists because of the interesting chemistry they catalyze, the role of their PG products as mediators of signaling pathways, and the importance of the cyclooxygenase active sites as targets for a large and growing class of drugs that alleviate human suffering. Studies conducted over the past 15 years have provided strong support for the basic tenets of the branched-chain mechanism linking peroxidase catalysis to cyclooxygenase activation via the formation of a protein tyrosyl radical. Available data serve to show that the cyclooxygenase mechanism is one of the most well-understood of all those in radical enzymology"."