Interferon-α2 counteracts interleukin-1α-stimulated expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator in human foreskin microvascular endothelial cells in vitro

Abstract

We investigated the effect of interferon-α2 (IFN-α2) on interleukin-1α (IL-1α)-induced up-regulation of urokinase type plasminogen activator (u- PA) expression in human foreskin microvascular endothelial cells (HFMEC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in vitro. When IFN-α2 and IL- 1α were added to the cells simultaneously, IFN-α2 inhibited IL-1α-induced up-regulation of u-PA antigen in a dose- and time-dependent fashion in HFMEC, whereas in HUVEC no effect of IFN-α2 on IL-1α-induced u-PA was seen. IL- 1α-induced up-regulation of PAI-1 antigen in HFMEC was not counteracted by IFN-α2. When IFN-α2 was added to HFMEC 1 or 2 h after IL-1α a significant inhibition in u-PA synthesi..