Comparative analysis of receptor binding by chicken and human interleukin-1β.

Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is an important cytokine in the immune system. Mammalian and avian IL-1βs share only 31-35% sequence identity, and the function of avian IL-1βs is less well understood by comparison. Although chicken and mammalian IL-1βs have similar tertiary structures, these ILs differ significantly with respect to receptor activation.