Balance Between Interleukin-1beta and Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist in the Development of Atherosclerosis A Polymorphism in the Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist

摘要

Interleukin (IL)-l is a physiologically active factor produced and secreted by a variety of cells. Furthermore, it plays an important role in immune reactions, cell damage, and cell proliferation. IL-1 consists of 2 molecules, IL-1alpha and IL-1beta, both of which exert similar but not completely overlapping biological functions. The release of mature IL-1beta is derived proteolytically from pro-IL-1beta by intracellular IL-lbeta-converting enzyme activity, whereas mature IL-la requires extracellular calpain-mediated cleavage of a pro-IL-1alpha. IL-1beta acts synergistically with tumor necrosis factor-alpha, activates proinflammatory responses in a wide range of cells, and increases expression of adhesion molecules in endothelial cells (ECs), whereas IL-1alpha mainly acts as an intracellular transcriptional regulator! There are 2 specific IL-1 receptors.