INTERLEUKIN-1 ACTIVATES TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR NF-KAPPA-B IN GLIAL-CELLS

Recombinant human interleukin-1 (IL-1) alpha and beta were found to ac tivate a latent cytosolic form of the transcription factor NFkappaB in rat C6 glioma. IL-1beta was 10 times more potent than IL-1 alpha for this activity and both were inhibited by the IL-1 receptor antagonist. The activation was detectable from 20 min and remained sustained for up to 24 h. The electrophoretic mobility of the activated complex was shown to be different from that of the corresponding complexes in anot her IL-1-responsive cell line, the murine thymoma line EL4.NOB-1. C6 c ells, when transiently transfected with five NFkappaB consensus sequen ce repeats linked to the reporter gene chloramphenicol acetyltransfera se (CAT), demonstrated increased CAT activity in response to IL-1beta treatment. The activation of NFkappaB in glial cells may thus represen t an early step in IL-1 signalling in brain and is likely to have cons equences for IL-1-induced gene expression in these cells.