Aspirin-based PROTACs as COX-2 degraders for anti-inflammation

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of prostaglandins and plays a special role in the process of inflammatory response. COX-2 is a target of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which can effectively relieve inflammation, pain and fever responses by inhibiting COX-2. Despite the significant study progress of inhibitors targeting COX-2, the development of COX-2 degraders remains insufficient. Proteolysis targeting chimaeras (PROTACs) have recently emerged as a fascinating technology for targeted protein degradation and drug discovery. In this report, we present the design, synthesis and detection of aspirin-based PROTACs that demonstrate effective ubiquitin–proteasome pathway degradation of COX-2 in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW264.7 cells, and the aspirin-based negative PROTACs does not promote the degradation of COX-2. Moreover, we show AspPROTACs could significantly affect proteasome degradation and inflammatory signaling pathways through quantitative proteomic data analysis. These COX-2 degraders offer valuable chemical tools and novel insights for research in anti-inflammatory drugs.