Oxidative stress and inflammation are implicated in the pathogenesis of many age-related diseases. Stress-induced overproduction of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-8 (IL-8), is one of the early events of inflammation. The objective of this study was to elucidate mechanistic links between oxidative stress and overproduction of IL-8 in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. We found that exposure of RPE cells to H 2 O 2 , paraquat, or A2E-mediated photooxidation resulted in increased expression and secretion of IL-8. All of these oxidative stressors also inactivated the proteasome in RPE cells. In contrast, tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBH), a lipophilic oxidant that did not stimulate IL-8 production, also did not inactivate the proteasome. Moreover, prolonged treatment of RPE cells with proteasome-specific inhibitors recapitulated the stimulation of IL-8 production. These data suggest that oxidative inactivation of the proteasome is a potential mechanistic link between oxidative stress and up-regulation of the proinflammatory IL-8. The downstream signaling pathways that govern the production of IL-8 include NF-B and p38 MAPK. Proteasome inhibition both attenuated the activation and delayed the turnoff of NF-B, resulting in biphasic effects on the production of IL-8. Prolonged proteasome inhibition (>2 h) resulted in activation of p38 MAPK via activation of MKK3/6 and increased the production of IL-8. Chemically inhibiting the p38 MAPK blocked the proteasome inhibition-induced up-regulation of IL-8. Together, these data indicate that oxidative inactivation of the proteasome and the related activation of the p38 MAPK pathway provide a potential link between oxidative stress and overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-8.Oxidative stress, which refers to cellular damage caused by reactive oxygen species, has been implicated in the onset and progression of many age-related diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), 3 arthritis, atherosclerosis, and certain types of cancer (1-3). Inflammatory events are also known to participate in the pathogenesis of these age-related diseases. The activation of redox-sensitive transcription factors may be involved in triggering the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (2). However, the molecular links between oxidative stress and inflammation are not fully understood.Retina has the highest metabolic rate and oxygen consumption in the body. The high metabolic rate and oxygen consumption is usually accompanied by generation of reactive oxygen species. Chronic exposure to light could also increase the production of reactive oxygen species (1, 4). Therefore, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is a primary target of oxidative stress.Age-related accumulation of lipofuscin in RPE is another source of oxidative stress. Lipofuscin is a mixture of nondegradable protein-lipid aggregates derived from the ingestion of photoreceptor outer segments (5). A2E is the major fluorophore of lipofuscin and acts as a photosensitizer to generate reactive oxygen spe...