ABSTRACT
Leukotrienes (LT) and lipoxins (LX) are critical effectors in the control of diverse physiological and pathophysiological events, such as inflammation, reperfusion injury, and tissue repair. This chapter reviews the diverse methodology required to determine the biosynthesis of LT and LX during cell–cell interactions, including current techniques for cell isolation and incubation, eicosanoid extraction, detection of lipoxygenase expression, and quantitation of LT and LX by both physical and immunologic means. The capacity of individual cell types to generate LT and/or LX can be evaluated, and, if cell–cell interactions are likely to occur during physiological or pathophysiological states, conditions can be simulated ex vivo to determine the presence of transcellular pathways for eicosanoid formation. As diverse as the cell types available for study are, so too is the array of stimuli that investigators have examined for LT and LX formation.
