interleukin-1 beta; IL-1 beta; catabolin (IL1B, IL1F2)

Function

• pro-inflammatory
• inhibits gastric acid secretion
• IL1-beta is synthesized as a 31 kD precursor devoid of a conventional signal sequence & is processed to its pro-inflammatory 17 kD form by ICE, a cysteine protease with substrate specificity for Asp-X
• stimulates thymocyte proliferation by inducing IL-2 release, B-cell maturation & proliferation, & fibroblast growth factor activity
• involved in the inflammatory response,
  • endogenous pyrogen
  • stimulates the release of prostaglandin & collagenase from synovial cells

Structure

• monomer
• the similarity among the IL-1 precursors suggests that the amino ends of these proteins serve some as yet undefined function
• belongs to the IL-1 family

Compartment

• secreted
• the lack of a specific hydrophobic segment in the precursor suggests that IL-1 is released by damaged cells or is secreted by a mechanism differing from that used for other secretory proteins

Expression

• expressed & secreted by activated macrophages

More general terms

• interleukin-1; lymphocyte-activating factor (IL1)

Database

• Entrez gene: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=gene&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Graphics&list_uids=3553
• Kegg: http://www.genome.jp/dbget-bin/www_bget?hsa:3553
• OMIM: https://mirror.omim.org/entry/147720
• UniProt: http://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/P01584.html