. 5-Oxo-ETE regulates tone of guinea pig airway smooth muscle via activation of Ca 2ϩ pools and Rho-kinase pathway. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 287: L631-L640, 2004. First published April 16, 2004; 10.1152 10. /ajplung.00005.2004-eicosatetraenoic acid (5-oxo-ETE) is a proinflammatory mediator, but its effects on airway smooth muscle (ASM) have never been assessed. Tension measurements performed on guinea pig ASM showed that 5-oxo-ETE induced sustained concentration-dependent positive inotropic responses (EC 50 ϭ 0.89 M) of somewhat lower amplitude than those induced by carbamylcholine and the thromboxane A 2 (TXA2) agonist U-46619. Transient inotropic responses to 5-oxo-ETE were recorded in Ca 2ϩ -free medium, suggesting mobilization of intracellular Ca 2ϩ . Meanwhile, the sustained contraction, which required Ca 2ϩ entry, was partially blocked by 1 M nifedipine (an L-type Ca 2ϩ channel blocker) but relatively insensitive to 100 M Gd 3ϩ . The 5-oxo-ETE responses were also inhibited by indomethacin and SC-560 [a cyclooxygenase (COX-1) inhibitor] pretreatments but not by NS-398 (a selective COX-2 inhibitor). The contractile effects of 5-oxo-ETE on ASM were inhibited by the selective TXA 2 receptor (TP receptor) antagonist SQ-29548 (Ϫ75%) and by 2-(p-amylcinnamoyl) amino-4-chlorobenzoic acid pretreatment, a phospholipase A 2 inhibitor (Ϫ66%), suggesting that the major part of its effect is mediated by the release of TXA 2. ASM responses to 5-oxo-ETE were also blocked by the Rho-kinase inhibitor Y-27632, which also partially inhibited the response to the TP receptor agonist U-46619, suggesting that the contractile response is due in part to Ca 2ϩ sensitization of ASM cell myofilaments.5-oxo-eicosatetraenoic acid; isometric tension; membrane potential; calcium entry; transient receptor potential; Rho-kinase INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS, including both lipids and peptides, induce an elaborate variety of physiological and pharmacological responses that are mediated by specific receptors coupled to various effectors (11,21,23,30). A number of inflammatory lipids are derived from arachidonic acid (AA), a cell membrane component that is found esterified in the sn-2 position on the glycerol backbone of phospholipids. AA is hydrolyzed principally by cytosolic phospholipase A 2 (cPLA 2 ) and then metabolized by various enzymes, including cyclooxygenases 1 and 2 (COX-1 and COX-2), which initiate the formation of prostaglandins (PGs) and thromboxanes (TXs), and 5-lipoxygenase, which initiates the formation of leukotrienes (LTs) and 5-oxo-6,8,11,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (5-oxo-ETE) (8). AA is also metabolized by a number of other lipoxygenases to monohydroxy products (HETEs) and lipoxins (8) as well as by cytochrome P-450, which produces epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) and 20-HETE (35). 5-Lipoxygenase initially converts AA to 5-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HPETE), which is either further converted to LTA 4 by 5-lipoxygenase or reduced to 5-HETE by peroxidase. The latter compound can then be oxidized by 5-hydroxyeicosa...