Stimulation of human interleukin 1 production and specific mRNA expression by microtubule-disrupting drugs.

The production of interleukin 1 (IL1), a pleiotropic monocyte-derived interleukin, can be induced in vitro by various stimuli. The present study shows that cytochalasins which inhibit actin filament polymerization in various cell types have no significant effect on IL1 production from human monocytic cells. On the contrary, microtubule disrupters such as colchicine, vinblastine, and vincristine dramatically potentiate (15- to 35-fold), in a dose-dependent fashion, cell-associated IL1 and to a lesser extent (2.

A chymotryptic-type serine protease is required for IL-2 production by Jurkat T cells.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) production by activated Jurkat T cells was markedly delayed when these cells were treated with low concentrations of the chymotryptic-type protease inhibitor N-alpha-p-tosyl-L-phenylalanine chloromethylketone (TPCK). This increased lag time observed in the presence of TPCK directly correlates with the interaction of the inhibitor with a unique 42,000 molecular weight (MW) serine protease, which can be labelled with [3H]DFP, and was not due to an intracellular accumulation of a non-mature form of IL-2 nor to a non-specific inhibition of overall protein synthesis. The results presented in this report indicate that a 42,000 MW chymotryptic-like serine protease is required for IL-2 production by activated Jurkat T cells.