IL-1β (Interleukin-1 beta) is a proinflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokine involved in a variety of cellular activities. It is produced by activated macrophages as a proprotein, and then proteolytically processed to an active form. It has been reported that IL-1β-induced IL-6 production is mediated by both PI3K and IRAK4 in A549 cells. To detect the bioactivity of IL-1β, A549 cells were seeded into 24-well plate at a density of 1x105cells/mL, and allowed to attach overnight before treated with or without certain concentrations (1ng/mL, 10ng/mL) of IL1-β for 4h and IL-6 levels in the cell supernatant were determined by ELISA. IL-6 levels in the cell supernatant of A549 cells increased significantly after stimulated with IL1-β, the data was shown in Table 1 and Figure 1. Sample Concentration of IL-6 O.D. value Corrected (cell supernatant of A549 cells) (ng/mL) stimulated with IL-1β (1ng/mL) 0.665 0.609 2.36 stimulated with IL-1β (10ng/mL) 0.631 0.574 2.21 unstimulated 0.309 0.253 0.86 Table 1. IL-6 levels in the cell supernatant of A549 cells up-regulated by IL1-β IL-6 levels in the cell supernatant of A549 cells up-regulated by IL1-β.