The success of plant reproduction depends on pollen-pistil interactions occurring at the stigma/style. These interactions vary depending on the stigma type: wet or dry. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) represents a model of wet stigma, and its stigmas/styles express genes to accomplish the appropriate functions. For a large-scale study of gene expression during tobacco pistil development and preparation for pollination, we generated 11,216 high-quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from stigmas/styles and created the TOBEST database. These ESTs were assembled in 6,177 clusters, from which 52.1% are pistil transcripts/genes of unknown function. The 21 clusters with the highest number of ESTs (putative higher expression levels) correspond to genes associated with defense mechanisms or pollen-pistil interactions. The database analysis unraveled tobacco sequences homologous to the Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genes involved in specifying pistil identity or determining normal pistil morphology and function. Additionally, 782 independent clusters were examined by macroarray, revealing 46 stigma/style preferentially expressed genes. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction experiments validated the pistil-preferential expression for nine out of 10 genes tested. A search for these 46 genes in the Arabidopsis pistil data sets demonstrated that only 11 sequences, with putative equivalent molecular functions, are expressed in this dry stigma species. The reverse search for the Arabidopsis pistil genes in the TOBEST exposed a partial overlap between these dry and wet stigma transcriptomes. The TOBEST represents the most extensive survey of gene expression in the stigmas/styles of wet stigma plants, and our results indicate that wet and dry stigmas/styles express common as well as distinct genes in preparation for the pollination process.

This article aims at reviewing celecoxib as a potential inhibitor in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. The enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX) predominantly has two isoforms called cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2). The former plays a constitutive role related to homeostatic effects in renal and platelets, while the latter is mainly responsible for the induction of inflammatory effects. Since COX-2 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases, it has been signaled as a target for the planning of anti-inflammatory intermediates. Many inhibitors developed and planned for COX-2 inhibition have presented side effects to humans, mainly in the gastrointestinal and/or cardiovascular tract. Therefore, it is necessary to design new potential COX-2 inhibitors, which are relatively safe and have no side effects. In this sense, celecoxib is the only potent, selective COX-2 inhibitor that is still commercially available (within the “coxib” family). Thus, celecoxib became a commercial prototype inhibitor for the development of anti-inflammatory agents for the COX-2 enzyme. This review provides inhibition highlights that should provide a structural basis for the design of promising new non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which act as COX-2 inhibitors with lesser side effects on the human body.