Vaccination has been the most effective way to prevent or reduce infectious diseases; examples include the eradication of smallpox and attenuation of tetanus and measles. However, there is a large segment of the population that responds poorly to vaccines, in part because they are immunocompromised because of disease, age, or pharmacologic therapy and are unable to generate long-term protection. Specialized proresolving mediators are endogenously produced lipids that have potent proresolving and anti-inflammatory activities. Lipoxin B4 (LXB4) is a member of the lipoxin family, with its proresolving effects shown in allergic airway inflammation. However, its effects on the adaptive immune system, especially on human B cells, are not known. In this study, we investigated the effects of LXB4 on human B cells using cells from healthy donors and donors vaccinated against influenza virus in vitro. LXB4 promoted IgG Ab production in memory B cells and also increased the number of IgG-secreting B cells. LXB4 enhanced expression of two key transcription factors involved in plasma cell differentiation, BLIMP1 and XBP1. Interestingly, LXB4 increased expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), an enzyme that is required for efficient B cell Ab production. The effects of LXB4 are at least partially COX2-dependent as COX2 inhibitors attenuated LXB4-stimulated BLIMP1 and Xpb-1 expression as well as IgG production. Thus, our study reveals for the first time, to our knowledge, that LXB4 boosts memory B cell activation through COX2 and suggests that LXB4 can serve as a new vaccine adjuvant.
Copyright © 2018 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Multidrug resistance (MDR), a challenge in treating childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML), is frequently associated with decreased drug accumulation caused by multidrug transporter MDR1. Doxorubicin, an important anti-AML drug, is a known MDR1 substrate and inducer. Its cytostatic efficacy is thus limited by MDR1 overexpression. A recent study demonstrated cyclooxygenase-2-dependent, prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2))-mediated regulation of mdr1b expression in primary rat hepatocyte cultures. Cyclooxygenase-2 expression is increased in several malignancies and considered a negative prognostic factor. Our study focused on cyclooxygenase system's impact on drug-induced MDR1 overexpression in AML cells. As a prerequisite, coexpression of MDR1 and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA in HL-60 cells and primary AML blasts was demonstrated by Northern blot. Interestingly, incubation of AML cells with doxorubicin not only induced functionally active MDR1 overexpression but also mediated increased cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA and protein expressions with subsequent PGE(2) release (determined by flow cytometry, rhodamine123 efflux assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). After preincubation and subsequent parallel treatment with the cyclooxygenase-2-preferential inhibitor meloxicam, doxorubicin-induced MDR1 overexpression and function were reduced (maximally at 0.1-0.5 microM meloxicam), whereas cytostatic efficacy of doxorubicin in 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide assays was significantly increased by up to 78 (HL-60) and 30% (AML blasts) after 72 h of doxorubicin treatment. In HL-60 cells, meloxicam-dependent effect on doxorubicin cytotoxicity was neutralized by PGE(2) preincubation. In conclusion, the cyclooxygenase system, especially the cyclooxygenase-2 isoform, might be involved in regulating doxorubicin-induced MDR1 overexpression in AML cells, with PGE(2) seeming to be a mediating factor. Cyclooxygenase inhibitors thus bear promise to overcome MDR in AML and improve therapy.

Breast tissue from healthy women contains variant mammary epithelial cells (vHMEC) exhibiting p16INK4a promoter hypermethylation both in vivo and in vitro. When continuously cultured, vHMEC acquire telomeric dysfunction and produce the types of chromosomal abnormalities seen in premalignant lesions of cancer. We find that late passage vHMEC express elevated prostaglandin cyclo-oxygenase 2 (COX-2), which contributes to increased prostaglandin synthesis, angiogenic activity, and invasive ability. These data demonstrate the existence of human mammary epithelial cells with the potential to acquire multiple genomic alterations and phenotypes associated with malignant cells. Moreover, COX-2 overexpression coincides with focal areas of p16INK4a hypermethylation in vivo, creating ideal candidates as precursors to breast cancer. These putative precursors can be selectively eliminated upon exposure to COX-2 inhibitors in vitro.

To evaluate the impact of monosodium urate monohydrate (MSUM) crystals on the synthesis of prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) by human neutrophils, and to examine some of the mechanisms underlying these responses.
The amount of PGE(2) released in the supernatants of stimulated human neutrophils was evaluated by enzyme immunoassay, and expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) was monitored by immunoblot on cell lysates, as well as by cytofluorometry of buffy-coat cells.
We observed that MSUM crystals rapidly stimulated the synthesis of PGE(2), with levels peaking at 1 hour. This response was decreased by NS-398, a specific inhibitor of COX-2. We also detected a constitutive expression of COX-2 in unstimulated and unprimed neutrophils. This rapid COX-2-dependent PGE(2) accumulation was independent of translation and transcription. We also observed that piceatannol, but not colchicine, blocked the synthesis of PGE(2) stimulated by MSUM crystals.
These results show that the interaction of MSUM crystals with human neutrophils stimulates a significant synthesis of PGE(2) mediated by constitutively expressed COX-2. The results of this study emphasize the potential importance of the neutrophil as a source of PGE(2), which may modulate, positively or negatively, the inflammatory response.

There are conflicting reports about the expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 in human platelets. The present study describes a flow cytometric method for the measurement of platelet COX. Both COX-1 and COX-2 were shown to be expressed in platelets from patients undergoing a coronary artery bypass graft. There was a significant increase in COX-2 expression at day 5 as compared with pre-surgery values (mean fluorescence 12.31 +/- 0.88 versus 9.15 +/- 0.88; means +/- SEM, n = 7, P < 0.05), whereas COX-1 levels did not change (13.45 +/- 1.11 versus 12.38 +/- 1.41; n = 7, P > 0.05).