In this study, we demonstrate that treatment of human lung adenocarcinoma H460 cells with farnesol induces the expression of a number of immune response and inflammatory genes, including IL-6, CXCL3, IL-1␣, and COX-2. This response was dependent on the activation of the NF-B signaling pathway. Isoprenoids are intermediates of the cholesterol/sterol biosynthetic pathway and are formed from mevalonate, which is synthesized from acetyl-CoA by the rate-limiting enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, a major target for statins in the treatment of cardiovascular disease (1-3). Isoprenoids are important in the regulation of cell proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation (4 -10).Farnesol and the related isoprenoids perillyl alcohol, geranylgeraniol, and geraniol have been reported to be effective in chemopreventative and -therapeutic strategies in several in vivo cancer models, including melanoma, colon, and pancreatic cancer (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). In addition, these isoprenoids inhibit proliferation and induce cell death in a variety of neoplastic cell lines (5, 7, 10, 13, 15, 19 -21). The mechanisms by which these agents mediate their actions are not yet fully understood. In human pancreatic carcinoma cells, the antiproliferative response by these isoprenoids involves a p21-and p27-dependent mechanism (21). Farnesol has been reported to be able to weakly activate the farnesoid X-activated receptor (22) and inhibit phospholipase D (23), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase activity (10), and the CDP-choline pathway (24). Study of farnesol-induced toxicity in yeast has indicated an important role for mitochondria and the PKC signaling pathway in the generation of reactive oxygen species (25).Recently, we reported that a large number of genes associated with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) 2 stress response are rapidly induced by farnesol treatment, suggesting that farnesolinduced apoptosis is coupled to ER stress (26). Disturbance of ER homeostasis results in the activation of the unfolded protein response (27)(28)(29)(30). During this response, several prosurvival and proapoptotic signals are activated, and, depending on the extent of the ER stress, cells survive or undergo apoptosis. We demonstrated that farnesol induces activation of several MAPK pathways, including p38, MEK1/2-ERK1/2, and JNK1/2 (26) and provided evidence indicating that activation of MEK/ERK is an early and upstream event in farnesol-induced ER stress signaling cascade.In this study, we demonstrate that treatment of human lung adenocarcinoma H460 cells with farnesol induces the expression of a number of immune response and inflammatory-related genes, including COX-2 and several chemo/cytokines, and * This work was supported, in whole or in part, by the National Institutes of Health, NIEHS, Intramural Research Program. The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely ...