Leukotriene synthesis in U937 cells expressing recombinant 5-lipoxygenase

The U937 human promyelocytic cell line does not express 5-lipoxygenase, but does express 5-lipoxygenase-activating protein (FLAP). U937 cells do not synthesize leukotrienes after stimulation by calcium ionophore A23187. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) differentiation of U937 cells, towards a more mature monocyte-macrophage lineage, induces the expression of FLAP but not 5-lipoxygenase. These DMSO-differentiated U937 cells also lack the ability to synthesize leukotrienes. We infected viral RNA coding for 5-lipoxygenase into U937 cells using a retroviral vector and measured the synthesis of 5-lipoxygenase, FLAP, leukotrienes and 5-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HETE) by these cells after stimulation with A23187. Undifferentiated U937 cells infected with 5-lipoxygenase RNA expressed 5-lipoxygenase and FLAP but neither leukotrienes nor 5-HETE were detected after these cells were stimulated with A23187. Exposure of the 5-lipoxygenase-infected U937 cells to DMSO increased the expression of 5-lipoxygenase and FLAP, and these cells produced leukotrienes and 5-HETE in response to A23187. The synthesis of these products was inhibited by MK-886, a compound which specifically binds to FLAP.