The objective of this study was to ascertain the mechanism by which serine and cysteine proteinase inhibitors interfere with production of NO by LPS-activated rat alveolar macrophages. Macrophages were incubated in the presence of LPS+ test agent for 24 hr. Culture media were analyzed for NOX- accumulation, harvested cells were assayed for iNOS activity, and cellular RNA was extracted for determination of iNOS mRNA by Northern blot analysis. TPCK, TLCK, calpain inhibitor 1 (CPI-1) and calpain inhibitor 2 (CPI-2) each inhibited NOX- production and inducible iNOS expression in a concentration-dependent manner at 1-100 microM. TPCK and CPI-1 were about 10-fold more potent than TLCK and CPI-2, respectively. These data suggest that a chymotrypsin-like serine or cysteine proteinase is required for the LPS-inducible expression of the iNOS gene, perhaps by mechanisms involving activation of transcription factor NF-kappa B. Accordingly, a potent inhibitor of NF-kappa B activation whose action is attributed to inhibition of the chymotrypsin-like activity of the multicatalytic proteinase complex (MPC) was tested. Z-IE(O-t-Bu)A-Leucinal abolished NOX- production and inducible iNOS expression at 1 microM and showed over 50% inhibition at 10 nM. These observations indicate that inhibitors of MPC interfere with iNOS induction and provide strong evidence that MPC functions importantly in iNOS induction in macrophages.