Abstract： Objective To investigate the effects of pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β(IL-1β)on mineralization potential of dental pulp stem cells(DPSC). Methods Rat DPSC were cultured in vitro and randomly divided into three groups, IL-1β(10 μg/L),osteogenic inductive medium and non-osteogenic inductive medium. After 3, 7, and 12 days of treatment, the cultures were evaluated for cell proliferation and calcium deposit. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the gene expression levels of osteocalcin(OC), bone sialoprotein(BSP), dentin sialophosphoprotein(DSPP) and dentin matrix protein 1(DMP-1). In vivo test, after 3 day′s treatment with IL-1β, the cell-scaffold complexes were implanted subcutaneously in mice for 8 weeks. Histological analysis was performed to evaluate hard tissue formation. Results In vitro test, after 3-day′s treatment, IL-1β improved cell proliferation to 137.22 DNA μg/L and cell viability becomes(97.12±7.18)% of control. The gene expression levels of OC, BSP, DSPP and DMP-1 are(378.19±16.22)%,(427.12±18.22)%,(247.19±10.11)% and(198.29±10.23)% respectively. The results of IL-1β′s group was notable increased compared with non-osteogenic induction medium and the statistical differences are significant. IL-1β induced the odontogenic differentiation of DPSC. However, these effects tended to continuously decrease with treatment time. Histological analysis demonstrated that in the group treated with IL-1β hard tissue was markedly formed in vivo. Conclusions IL-1β may induce the mineralization of DPSC and play an important role in host defenses and tissue repair.