Comparative production of IL-1 beta and IL-1 alpha by LPS-stimulated human monocytes: ELISAs measurement revisited.
There has always been an apparent discrepancy between the levels of IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta mRNA and that of their corresponding proteins. Indeed, LPS-stimulated human monocytes produce about 10 times more IL-1 beta mRNA and IL-1 alpha mRNA, while the ratio of the corresponding proteins is the opposite, a difference that has been attributed to less efficient translation of IL-1 beta mRNA. Using a home-made ELISA that recognizes the 31-kDa precursor of IL-1 beta (proIL-1 beta), we found that LPS-stimulated human monocytes produced at least 20 times more IL-1 beta than IL-1 alpha, a ratio in accordance with the corresponding mRNA levels. This difference with previous reports is due to the fact that commercial ELISAs recognize, little if at all, proIL-1 beta. Furthermore, we found that cell lysis with CHAPS released significantly more IL-1 beta than did classical freeze-thawing.