• peritoneal macrophages are able to secrete IL-1beta in the absence of ATP when activated in vitro

• bone marrow derived dendritic cells hypersecrete the mature form of IL-1beta in response to activation

• the maximal response is 300-fold greater than controls

• DCs are able to secrete IL1-beta without the presence of exogenous ATP

• mutant DCs cells have an enhanced ability to stimulate T cells to differentiate into a Th17 subtypes when presenting cognate antigen

• mutant DCs also enhance Th1 and Th2 differentation when co-cultured with T cells in the presence of polarizing cytokines

• peritoneal macrophages are able to secrete IL-1beta in the absence of ATP when activated in vitro