CHARACTERIZATION AND INHIBITION OF 15-LIPOXYGENASE IN HUMAN MONOCYTES - COMPARISON WITH SOYBEAN 15-LIPOXYGENASE

These studies characterize a method to measure 15-lipoxygenase (15-LO) activity in human monocytes (HMC) exposed to interleukin-4 (IL-4) and compare the activity with that of soybean 15-LO. 15-LO activity was quantitated by measuring 15-[C-14]hydroxyeicosa-5Z,8Z,11Z,13E-tetraenoic, acid (15-HETE) production from the substrate [C-14]arachidonic acid (AA) after high-performance liquid chromatographic or thin-layer chromatographic separation. 15-HETE production by HMC was significantly elevated after continuous exposure to a single dose (10 ng/ml) of IL-4 for 4 days, was maximal at 5 days, and remained elevated at 6 days. At 6 days 15-LO activity in IL-4-treated HMC was increased significantly (2.81 +/- 0.70 fmol 15-HETE/cell) compared with background levels of 15-HETE in untreated HMC (0.098 +/- 0.31 fmol 15-HETE/cell). 15-HETE production was linear in the range of 5 x 10(4) to 7 x 10(5) HMC/assay, from 2 to 160 mu M AA, and during 5-10 min of incubation with AA. Ethyl 2-cyano-3-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)propenoate (a caffeic acid analogue), N-methyl-4-benzyloxyphenyl acetohydroxamate (RG-6866), esculetin, and four novel lipoxygenase inhibitors, a phenylcyanomethylene analogue (RP-27493) and three benzoxadiazine analogues (RP-64835, RP-65047, and RP-65208), inhibited HMC 15-LO, with concentrations eliciting 50% of maximal inhibition (mu M) of 0.21, 0.8, 6.3, 10, 22, 20, 6.3, 3, and 20 and 5.8, 5, 12, 1, 30, 0.8, 0.15, 0.05, and 2.8 for inhibition of soybean 15-LO, respectively. These data define conditions for optimal production of 15-HETE by IL-4-treated HMC. Known and novel lipoxygenase inhibitors inhibit IL-4-treated HMC 15-LO and soybean 15-LO, suggesting that IL-4-treated HMC provide an appropriate system to study human 15-LO activity.