Marah C Runtsch, Morgan C Nelson, Soh-Hyun Lee, Warren Voth, Margaret Alexander, Ruozhen Hu, Jared Wallace, Charisse Petersen, Vanja Panic, Claudio J Villanueva, Kimberley J Evason, Kaylyn M Bauer, Timothy Mosbruger, Sihem Boudina, Mary Bronner, June L Round, Micah J Drummond, Ryan M O'Connell
Identifying regulatory mechanisms that influence inflammation in metabolic tissues is critical for developing novel metabolic disease treatments. Here, we investigated the role of microRNA-146a (miR-146a) during diet-induced obesity in mice. miR-146a is reduced in obese and type 2 diabetic patients and our results reveal that miR-146a-/- mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) have exaggerated weight gain, increased adiposity, hepatosteatosis, and dysregulated blood glucose levels compared to wild-type controls. Pro-inflammatory genes and NF-κB activation increase in miR-146a-/- mice, indicating a role for this miRNA in regulating inflammatory pathways...
February 15, 2019: PLoS Genetics