Improved Non-Steroid Anti-Inflammatory Drugs: COX-2 Enzyme Inhibitors

In 1971, Vane proposed that the mechanism of action of the aspirin-like drugs was through their inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis. Since then, there has been intense interest in the interaction between this diverse group of inhibitors and the enzyme known as cyclooxygenase (COX). It exists in two isoforms, COX-l and COX-2 (discovered some 5 years ago). Over the last two decades several new drugs have reached the market based on COX-l enzyme screens. Elucidation of the three-dimensional st