摘要：

Interleukin-1 (IL-1), a 17-kDa glycoprotein, is one of several important cytokines involved in acute inflammatory responses (1) . While IL-1 is produced primarily by monocytes and macrophages, it is also synthesized by astrocytes and microglial cells (1, 2) . The IL-1 gene family is comprised of IL-l α ,IL-1 β , and the IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-ira) (1, 3) . IL-l α and IL-1 β represent two unique proteins that are derived from two distinct human genes (1) . IL-l β is the predominant free extracellular form, whereas most IL-l α is membrane-bound. IL-l α and IL-1 β are synthesized as precursor molecules, each with an approximate mol wt of 31 kDa. Processing of IL-l α and IL-1 β to mature forms of 17 kDa requires specific cellular proteases (i.e., IL-l β -converting enzyme, [ICE]). The mature forms of IL-l α and IL-l β share 26% homology at the amino acid level and bind to the same IL-1 receptors (1, 3) .

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