title: IL-1: discoveries, controversies and future directions.
abstract: Although there has been a great amount of progress in the 25 years since the first reporting of the cDNA for IL-1alpha and IL-1beta, the history of IL-1 goes back to the early 1940s. In fact, the entire field of inflammatory cytokines, TLR and the innate immune response can be found in the story of IL-1. This Viewpoint follows the steps from the identification of the fever-inducing activities of "soluble factors" produced by endotoxin-stimulated leukocytes through to the discovery of cryopyrin and the caspase-1 inflammasome and on to the clinical benefits of anti-IL-1beta-based therapeutics. It also discusses some of the current controversies regarding the activation of the inflammasome. The future of novel anti-inflammatory agents to combat chronic inflammation is based, in part, on the diseases that are uniquely responsive to anti-IL-1beta, which is surely a reason to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the cloning of IL-1alpha and IL-1beta.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. cdinarello@mac.com
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Dinarello
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000266:history* / Q000276:immunology*; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000266:history* / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1