We examined the influence of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) on the in vitro synthesis of rheumatoid factor (RF) by purified human B and T lymphocytes stimulated with Staphylococcus aureus Cowan 1 or pokeweed mitogen (PWM). Supernatants were assayed for total IgM and RF. PGE2 at concentrations of 10(-7) M to 10(-9) M significantly inhibited RF and IgM secretion stimulated by S aureus Cowan 1, a cross-linker of B cell surface Ig. The magnitude of inhibition of RF production was significantly greater than that of total IgM at low PGE2 concentrations (P less than 0.05). In contrast, PWM-stimulated cultures were only minimally inhibited by PGE2 at all concentrations tested. Since cross-linking of surface Ig renders B cells more susceptible to inhibition by PGE2, heat-aggregated IgG (HAIgG) was added to the PWM-stimulated cultures in an attempt to increase the sensitivity of precursors of RF-secreting cells to the inhibitory effects of PGE2. Addition of HAIgG markedly increased PGE2-mediated inhibition of RF synthesis without significantly affecting IgM production. Inhibition could not be overcome by the addition of soluble T helper cell factors, indicating that PGE2-mediated suppression was not the result of an inhibitory action of T helper cells. When lymphocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis were examined, HAIgG was found to be unable to induce sensitivity to PGE2-mediated inhibition of responsiveness. These results suggest that down-regulation of RF synthesis requires both cross-linking of surface Ig and the influence of PGE2. Abnormalities in this immunoregulatory mechanism may explain the ongoing production of RF in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.