BACKGROUND: PPARdelta (NR1C2) promotes lipid accumulation in human macrophages in vitro and has been implicated in the response of macrophages to vLDL. We have investigated the role of PPARdelta in PMA-stimulated macrophage differentiation.The THP-1 monocytic cell line which displays macrophage like differentiation in response to phorbol esters was used as a model system. We manipulated the response to PMA using a potent synthetic agonist of PPARdelta, compound F. THP-1 sub-lines that either over-expressed PPARdelta protein, or expressed PPARdelta anti-sense RNA were generated. We then explored the effects of these genetic modulations on the differentiation process. RESULTS: The PPARdelta agonist, compound F, stimulated differentiation in the presence of sub-nanomolar concentrations of phorbol ester. Several markers of differentiation were induced by compound F in a synergistic fashion with phorbol ester, including CD68 and IL8. Over-expression of PPARdelta also sensitised THP-1 cells to phorbol ester and correspondingly, inhibition of PPARdelta by anti-sense RNA completely abolished this response. CONCLUSIONS: These data collectively demonstrate that PPARdelta plays a fundamental role in mediating a subset of cellular effects of phorbol ester and supports observations from mouse knockout models that PPARdelta is involved in macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses.