• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제21권3호
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• pp.345-352
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• 2017

Since previous studies have reported that hydroquinone (HQ) exerted immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory activity, various HQ derivatives have been synthesized and their biological activities investigated. In this study, we explored the anti-inflammatory activity of JS-III-49, a novel HQ derivative, in macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses. JS-III-49 suppressed the production of the inflammatory mediators nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$) and down-regulated the mRNA expression of the inflammatory enzymes cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) as well as the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-$1{\beta}$ without cytotoxicity in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. JS-III-49 inhibited nuclear translocation of the $NF-{\kappa}B$ transcription factors p65 and p50 by directly targeting Akt, an upstream kinase of the $NF-{\kappa}B$ pathway, in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. However, JS-III-49 did not directly inhibit the kinase activities of Src and Syk, which are upstream kinases of Akt, in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, JS-III-49 suppressed the nuclear translocation of c-Fos, one of the components of AP-1, by specifically targeting p38, an upstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the AP-1 pathway in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. These results suggest that JS-III-49 plays an anti-inflammatory role in LPS-stimulated macrophages by targeting Akt and p38 in the $NF-{\kappa}B$ and AP-1 pathways, respectively.