We reported previously that bone marrow granulocytes respond to small amounts of enterobacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) via a CD14-independent and TLR4-mediated mechanism by de novo expression of an inducible receptor (CD14) and by down-modulation of a constitutive receptor (L-selectin). In this report we address another effect of LPS: the down-regulation of receptors for tumor necrosis factor-␣. In mouse bone marrow cells (BMC), this down-regulation is detectable soon (20 min) after exposure of the cells to low levels (0.5 ng/ml) of LPS. This temperature-dependent effect is rather selective for LPS and requires the presence of a conventional lipid A structure in the LPS molecule and a functional TLR4 molecule in the cells. The down-modulation, due to a shedding of the receptors, is blocked by p38 MAPK inhibitors, by a furin inhibitor, and by three metalloproteinase inhibitors (BB-3103, TIMP-2, and TIMP-3). In contrast, inhibitors of MEK, protein kinase C, cAMP-dependent protein kinase, and kinases of the Src family do not block the shedding. Analysis of BMC from mice lacking tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (CD120a ؊/؊ ) or tumor necrosis factor receptor-2 (CD120b ؊/؊ ) indicates that the LPS-induced shedding is specific for CD120b. Thus, exposure of BMC to LPS triggers a rapid shedding of CD120b via a protein kinase Cand Src-independent pathway mediated by p38 MAPK, furin, and metalloproteinase. The additive effects of furin and metalloproteinase inhibitors suggest that these enzymes are involved in parallel shedding pathways.Two major cell types, the neutrophilic granulocyte and the monocyte/macrophage, are associated with susceptibility to infections (1). Both derive from granulocyte-type progenitor cells present in the bone marrow. Therefore, a better knowledge of the events following the interaction of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 1 with bone marrow granulocytes can help us to understand some of its in vivo effects. We have shown in a previous study (2) that granulocytes from the bone marrow of LPS-responsive mice express an inducible LPS-binding site on their cell surface after exposure in vivo or in vitro to nanomolar concentrations of LPS. This cell surface molecule was identified later as CD14 (3, 4). In contrast to this expression of a receptor, many surface markers are actually down-modulated after exposure of cells to LPS. This has been observed in macrophages with mannose receptors (5), scavenger receptors (6), interleukin 6 receptors (7), CSF-M receptors (8), and TNF-␣ receptors (TNF-R) (9). Concerning BMC, we found in a previous study (10) that LPS induced in these cells a marked down-regulation of TNF-R, in the absence of any direct binding of LPS to TNF-R. Because TNF-␣ and its receptors play a prominent role in inflammation and in LPS-induced septic shock (11, 12), we considered that the mechanism by which LPS induces the down-regulation of TNF-R in BMC would deserve closer scrutiny. The two known TNF-␣ receptors CD120a (p55) and CD120b (p75) have gained wide interest because of their ...