Pharmacologic inhibition of cytokines, particularly interleukin-1 (IL-1), potentially has numerous therapeutic applications in inflammatory diseases. We demonstrate that pentamidine, an aromatic diamidine currently used to treat Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, is a specific and effective inhibitor of cellular IL-1 release from macrophages, and we have shown that this blockage occurs at neither the transcriptional nor the translational level. Pentamidine induced inhibition of IL-1 occurs via an alteration in the post-translational modification of the protein, altering the intracellular and/or membrane cleavage of the 31-kDa pro-IL-1 to the 17-kDa secreted form. In addition, pentamidine exhibited less broad immunosuppressive actions when compared to a corticosteroid, the classical therapeutics utilized for inhibition of cytokine production.
Pentamidine: An inhibitor of interleukin-1 that acts via a post-translational event / G.J. Rosenthal, E. Corsini, W.A. Craig, C.E. Comment, M.I. Luster. - In: TOXICOLOGY AND APPLIED PHARMACOLOGY. - ISSN 0041-008X. - 107:3(1991), pp. 555-561.
Titolo: | Pentamidine: An inhibitor of interleukin-1 that acts via a post-translational event |
Autori: | CORSINI, EMANUELA (Secondo) |
Settore Scientifico Disciplinare: | Settore BIO/14 - Farmacologia |
Data di pubblicazione: | 1991 |
Rivista: | |
Tipologia: | Article (author) |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0041-008X(91)90318-9 |
Appare nelle tipologie: | 01 - Articolo su periodico |