IL-1 alpha gene expression and protein production by fibroblasts from patients with systemic sclerosis

We examined IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta gene expression and protein production in human dermal fibroblasts from patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) to investigate the abnormal function of SSc fibroblasts. Human dermal fibroblasts were biopsied from 13 patients with SSc, three patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and five healthy normal controls (NC). Cells were cultured in serum-free media and total RNA was collected from second or third passage fibroblasts. In cultured SSc fibroblasts, IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta mRNAs were constitutively expressed and intracellular pro-IL-1 alpha was present. These observations suggest that an autocrine effect of IL-1 alpha contributes to the fibrosis in SSc.