Interleukin-1β affects calcium signaling and in vitro cell migration of astrocyte progenitors

Spontaneous calcium activity of neural progenitors is largely dependent on a paracrine signaling mechanism involving release of ATP and activation of purinergic receptors. Although it is well documented that, in mature astrocytes, cytokines modulate the expression levels of certain purinergic receptors, nothing is known about their impact during early stages of development. Here we provide evidence that conditioned medium from activated microglia and interleukin-1β, but not tumor necrosis factor-α, decrease the frequency of calcium oscillations and reduce the rate of in vitro migration of astrocyte progenitors. Such alterations were due to changes in activity of two purinergic P2 receptors, and not to the amount of released ATP. These results indicate that interleukin-1β plays an important role during early stages of CNS development, modulating calcium signaling and cell migration.