Neuroinflammation is often associated with neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS), stroke, Alzheimer's disease, and HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD). The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) is one of the main mediators of inflammation, and IL-1beta expression in the brain is rapidly upregulated in response to acute and chronic insults. IL-1beta is synthesized as biologically inactive precursor (pro-IL-1beta), which is classically processed by caspase-1 [also known as interleukin-converting enzyme (ICE)] into the active, mature cytokine. However, caspase-1/ICE-independent mechanisms of IL-1beta processing have recently been suggested. Here we report that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) participate in the maturation process (cleavage and activation) of IL-1beta in an in vivo model of HIV-associated neurodegeneration based on the intracerebroventricular injection of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120. We show that, following gp120 exposure, MMP-9 and MMP-2, but not caspase-1/ICE, are rapidly induced. Pharmacological manipulation of MMPs activity, using the broad spectrum MMPs inhibitor GM6001, reduces the increase in IL-1beta immunoreactivity and the neuronal apoptosis induced by gp120. Taken together, these findings point to a critical role for MMPs in IL-1beta increase and consequent neurotoxicity triggered by gp120 in the neocortex of rat and suggest new links between IL-1beta processing and MMP activation during the neuroinflammatory process.