The dynamics and mechanisms of interleukin-1alpha and beta nuclear import.

ABSTRACT: Pro-inflammatory members of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) family of cytokines (IL-1alpha and beta) are important mediators of host defense responses to infection but can also exacerbate the damaging inflammation that contributes to major human diseases. IL-1alpha and beta are produced by cells of the innate immune system, such as macrophages, and act largely after their secretion by binding to the type I IL-1 receptor on responsive cells. There is evidence that IL-1alpha is also a nuclear protein that can act intracellularly. In this study, we report that both IL-1alpha and IL-1beta produced by microglia (central nervous system macrophages) in response to an inflammatory challenge are distributed between the cytosol and the nucleus. Using IL-1-beta-galactosidase and IL-1-green fluorescent prote

SUBMITTER: Luheshi NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2682621 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature