Numerous epidemiological studies have linked exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution with acute respiratory infection and chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. We have previously shown that soluble nickel (Ni), a common component of PM, alters the release of CXC chemokines from cultured human lung fibroblasts (HLF) in response to microbial stimuli via a pathway dependent on disrupted prostaglandin (PG)E2 signaling. The current study sought to identify the molecular events underlying Ni-induced alterations in PGE2 signaling and its effects on IL-8 production. PGE2 synergistically enhances Ni-induced IL-8 release from HLF in a concentration-dependent manner. The effects of PGE2 were mimicked by butaprost and PGE1-alcohol and inhibited with antagonists AH6809 and L-161,982, indicating PGE2 signals via PGE2 receptors 2 and 4. PGE2 and forskolin stimulated cAMP, but it was only in the presence of Ni-induced hypoxia-inducible factor 1, α subunit (HIF1A) that these agents stimulated IL-8 release. The Ni-induced HIF1A DNA binding was enhanced by PGE2 and mediated, in part, by activation of p38 MAPK. Negation of cAMP-response element binding protein 1 or HIF1A using short interfering RNA blocked the synergistic interactions between Ni and PGE2. The results of the current study provide novel information on the ability of atmospheric hypoxia-mimetic metals to disrupt the release of immune-modulating chemokines by HLF in response to PGE2. Moreover, in the presence of HIF1A, cAMP-mediated signaling pathways may be altered to exacerbate inflammatory-like processes in lung tissue, imparting a susceptibility of PM-exposed populations to adverse respiratory health effects.