The Seminal Role of the Proinflammatory Cytokine IL-1β and Its Signaling Cascade in Glioblastoma Pathogenesis and the Therapeutic Effect of Interleukin-1β Receptor Antagonist (IL-1RA) and Tolcapone

Interleukin-1 beta(IL-1β) is the major driving force in neuroinflammation. Here, we report on (i) the role of (IL-1β) in activating a signaling cascade that leads to proliferation and metastasis in glioblastoma cancer pathogenesis as well as (ii) the therapeutic role for IL-1 Receptor Antagonist (IL-1RA) and Tolcapone against untoward aspects of tumor pathogenesis. Here, we report that IL-1β treatment at 50 ng/mL for 48 h increased proliferation and metastasis by 30-fold (p ≤ 0.05), leading to the formation of clones of rapidly dividing cancer cells, leading to the formation of organized glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP)-immunoreactive, clone-like structures with protruding spikes. Further, IL-1β treatment significantly increased the expression of mRNA levels of the IL-1β-driven pathway TLR-MyD88-NF-κB-TNFα and IL-6 (p ≤ 0.05). IL-1β also increased autophagy via elevation of mRNA and protein levels of cathepsin B, LAMP-2, and LC3B. In contrast, IL-1RA and Tolcapone inhibited this proliferation and the expression of these mRNAs and proteins, inhibiting autophagy by downregulating these autophagy proteins and inducing apoptosis by upregulating the expression of pro-apoptotic proteins like caspase-8 and caspase-3. IL-1β and its receptor can be targeted for successful anticancer therapy, as shown here with the use of IL-1RA and/or Tolcapone.