Interleukin-1 mediated signal transduction associated with synovial cell activation.

The early biochemical events that link interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor occupancy to neutral proteinase production in synovial cells were studied. Addition of human r-IL-1 to human synovial cells in culture stimulated phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activity, inositol triphosphate production and plasminogen activator (PA) activity in a dose dependent manner with similar EC50 values (0.1-0.5 nM). These results, coupled with time courses and other studies, suggest that the IL-1 modulation of PA involves both products of PLA2 and phospholipase C (PLC) activation. On the other hand, the IL-1 induction of collagenase may primarily involve PLC and protein kinase C activation.