Gene regulation by IL-1β in IL-1R1-deficient mixed glia

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a key pro-inflammatory cytokine, which has diverse actions in the brain as a regulator of host defence responses and a mediator of inflammation. Two major agonists, IL-1α and IL-1β bind to a single known functional (type-1) IL-1 receptor (IL-1RI), which associates with an accessory protein (IL-1RAcP) leading to signal transduction. However, recent evidence suggests that some actions of IL-1 in the brain may be independent of IL-1R1 and its classical signalling pathways, pointing to an as yet unidentified functional receptor for IL-1 expressed in the CNS. In this study, cDNA array based gene expression profiling was used to identify possible genes induced by IL-1β independently of IL-1R1. The results show that IL-1β may indeed regulate some genes independently of IL-1R1, suggesting the presence of additional functional IL-1 receptors in the mouse brain. Keywords: experimental treatment (IL-1β), gene ablation (IL-1R1), glia Wild-type and IL-1R1-/- primary mixed glial cells were treated for 4 hours with 10 ng/ml rrIL-1β or vehicle alone. Paired treatments were undertaken in three independent biological replicates for each cell type.