ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies for Inflammatory DiseasesView all 5 articles
Upregulation of miR-146a-5p and miR-146b-5p limits IL-1β-mediated signaling in adipose tissue during polytrauma by downregulating IRAK1
Provisionally accepted
Pamela Fischer-Posovszky*
Antonia MortschJulian Roos
Rebecca Halbgebauer
Ludmila Lupu
Annette Palmer
Martin Wabitsch
Markus Huber-LangJulia Zinngrebe- Universitatsklinikum Ulm, Ulm, Germany
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs and play a crucial role in the regulation of inflammation. White adipose tissue (WAT) covers the body and internal organs in subcutaneous and visceral fat depots, respectively, and represents an important source of circulating miRNAs. The role of WAT and its miRNAs in the context of polytrauma is incompletely understood. However, evidence is accumulating that WAT contributes to the severe inflammatory response observed in polytrauma patients. Therefore, we analyzed the miRNA expression in inguinal WAT depots in a standardized mouse model of polytrauma and hemorrhagic shock (PT+HS). Here, we identified miR-146a-5p and miR-146b-5p to be upregulated upon PT+HS. In an in-vitro model of human white adipocytes, we found miR-146a-5p to be upregulated by IL-1β-induced NF-kB activation. Both, miR-146a-5p and miR-146b-5p, in turn, dampened IL-1β-induced inflammation in human adipocytes. Using target gene prediction tools, we further confirmed IRAK1 as target of miR-146a-5p, and potentially also miR-146b-5p, underlining the importance of IRAK1 in IL-1β-induced proinflammatory signaling. Thus, miR-146a-5p and miR-146b-5p act as suppressors of IL-1β-induced proinflammatory signaling in human adipocytes during trauma, and blockage of IL-1β or mimics of miR-146a-5p and miR-146b-5p might represent a potential future therapeutic avenue for severe traumatic and inflammatory conditions.
Keywords: Adipocytes, Adipose Tissue, Interleukin-1, miRNAs, polytrauma
Received: 02 Jul 2025; Accepted: 12 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Fischer-Posovszky, Mortsch, Roos, Halbgebauer, Lupu, Palmer, Wabitsch, Huber-Lang and Zinngrebe. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Pamela Fischer-Posovszky
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.