COXremmers

COXremmers is a term used in speculative or fictional biology to describe a family of regulatory molecules associated with the cyclooxygenase (COX) pathway. In this concept, COXremmers modulate the activity of COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes, influencing the production of prostaglandins and other downstream products involved in inflammation and homeostasis. The idea emerged in theoretical discussions about how isoform-specific regulation might be achieved beyond classical inhibitors.

In concept, COXremmers are divided into small-molecule and peptide-based variants. Small-molecule COXremmers are envisioned as allosteric modulators that bind at sites distinct from the substrate channel, altering enzyme conformation and selectivity. Peptide-based COXremmers are designed to mimic regulatory subunits or interacting proteins, providing higher specificity but lower overall potency. Their properties are described as tunable, with researchers imagining profiles that reduce COX-1–mediated gastrointestinal side effects while sustaining COX-2–driven anti-inflammatory signaling; or vice versa, depending on therapeutic aims.

As a fictional construct, COXremmers serve as a tool for teaching and scenario planning in pharmacology and systems biology. They illustrate challenges in achieving isoform selectivity, avoiding off-target effects, and predicting in vivo behavior. No COXremmer compound has been approved for clinical use; existing work remains speculative or confined to in silico models, literature exercises, or hypothetical demonstrations of pathway regulation.