# Mechanistic studies of a long noncoding RNA in macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses

> **NIH NIH R21** · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · 2022 · $198,750

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The goal of this study is to understand how a pseudogene-derived long noncoding RNA named Bambi-ps1
regulates macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses. Macrophages, a vital type of innate immune cell,
play critical roles in detecting danger signals and mounting proper inflammatory responses. Many gene
products from these immune responses, such as TNF, however, are also toxic to healthy tissues. Thus,
multiple regulatory circuits precisely control the expression of these inflammatory genes to maintain a delicate
balance between managing infection/injury and damaging healthy tissues. Critically, malfunction of these
regulatory events can result in many acute and chronic diseases, such as sepsis and autoimmune disorders
(e.g., rheumatoid arthritis), etc. Thus, characterizing regulatory programs in macrophage-mediated
inflammatory responses will both reveal fundamental mechanisms of gene expression and provide insights into
the pathogenesis of many immunological disorders. Recent studies revealed a novel layer of regulation of
inflammatory responses mediated by long noncoding RNAs, which are longer than 200 nucleotides and do not
have functional protein-coding capacity. These RNAs can regulate gene expression via diverse mechanisms.
We identified a bona fide lncRNA, Bambi-ps1, which is abundantly and specifically expressed in activated
macrophages during inflammatory responses. Moreover, our preliminary data indicated that Bambi-ps1 is
required for proper inflammatory responses both in vivo and in vitro. In this explorative study, we plan to
decipher the molecular mechanisms of Bambi-ps1-mediated regulation of gene expression in macrophages.
The results will not only reveal novel regulatory mechanisms of gene expression in macrophage-mediated
inflammatory responses but also may potentially result in new therapeutic targets for innate immune disorders,
such as sepsis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10406376
- **Project number:** 5R21AI155378-02
- **Recipient organization:** MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Wenqian Hu
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $198,750
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-17 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10406376

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10406376, Mechanistic studies of a long noncoding RNA in macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses (5R21AI155378-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10406376. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*