Macrophage activation by particulate debris from orthopaedic implants triggers an inflammatory response that ultimately leads to periprosthetic bone resorption and implant failure. TNFa has been identified as a critical cytokine involved in the response to debris particles but the mechanisms involved in activation of TNFx synthesis are unclear. The current study demonstrates rapid induction of T N F r following stimulation with titanium particles in the murine macrophage cell line, ANA-1, Electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated NFtiB DNA binding activity within 15 min of exposure to titanium particles, and experiments with an N FtiB luciferase promoter confirmed the induction of NFKB mediated transcription by titanium particles. Furthermore, titanium particles induced a ?-fold induction in T N F a promoter activity, and mutation of the tiB2a site, one of the four NFtiBbinding sites in the TNFx promoter, resulted in decreased activation. Since NFtiB is a critical regulator of inflammation and is involved in activation of the TNF? promoter, additional experiments were performed to determine the mechanism of N FtiB activation by particles. NFKB activation was found to be dependent upon proteasome activity, since administration of MG 132, a proteasome inhibitor, blocked NFtiB activation. However, ItiBa is only slightly decreased following Ti treatment, in contrast to marked degradation following stimulation with LPS. Recently, another proteasome-dependent pathway of NFtiB activation has been described involving degradation of p105, a precursor of p50 that binds to p65. p105 degradation occurred following titanium stimulation. suggesting that this recently described mechanism for NFtiB activation is operant in ANA-1 cells following exposure to titanium particles. These findings demonstrate that activation of the NFtiB signaling pathway is rapidly induced by titanium particles in ANA-1 cells and is associated with p105 degradation. TNF'r induction appears to be mediated, at least in part, through NFtiB binding to the ~B 3 a site of the TNFx promoter. 8