The immune stimulatory unmethylated CpG motifs present in bacterial DNA (CpG DNA) induce expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (cox-2). The present study demonstrates that CpG DNA can up-regulate cox-2 expression by post-transcriptional mechanisms in RAW264.7 cells. To determine the CpG DNA-mediated signaling pathway that post-transcriptionally regulates cox-2 expression, a cox-2 translational reporter (COX2-3-UTR-luciferase) was generated by inserting sequences within the 3-untranslated region (UTR) of cox-2 to the 3 end of the luciferase gene under control of the SV40 promoter. CpG DNA-induced COX2-3-UTR-luciferase activity was completely inhibited by an endosomal acidification inhibitor chloroquine, a Toll-like receptor 9 antagonist inhibitory CpG DNA, or overexpression of a dominant negative (DN) form of MyD88. However, overexpression of DN-IRAK-1 or DN-TRAF6 resulted in substantial, but not complete, inhibition of the CpG DNA-induced COX2-3-UTR-luciferase activity. Activation of all three MAPKs (ERK, p38, and JNK) was required for optimal COX2-3-UTR-luciferase activity induced by CpG DNA.