Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28118842›Full record

ArticleJournal of neuroinflammation2017

Microglial-derived miRNA let-7 and HMGB1 contribute to ethanol-induced neurotoxicity via TLR7.

Leon G Coleman, Jian Zou, Fulton T Crews

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neuroinflammation, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 154 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
154citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
9.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

154 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 233 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Global deletion ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Ethanol Alters the Neurexin Landscape in Human Neuroblastoma Cells.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Islet Tissue Macrophages in Immunity Homeostasis and Type 1 Diabetes.Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology · 2025
    Review
  20. Review

94 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Leon G ColemanBowles Center for Alcohol Studies, The University of North Carolina School of Medicine, 104 Manning Drive, 1007 Thurston-Bowles Building, CB# 7178 UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. leon_coleman@med.unc.edu.
Jian ZouBowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 104 Manning Drive, CB#7178, Thurston-Bowles Building Room 1007, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
Fulton T CrewsBowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 104 Manning Drive, CB#7178, Thurston-Bowles Building Room 1007, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · US

Funding

UNC ARC Information/Dissemination CoreP60AA011605 · NIAAA · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Melissa A Herman · 2003 to 2026
$46.3M
Supplement to Molecular and Cellular Studies on Alcohol's ActionsT32AA007573 · NIAAA · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI FULTON T CREWS, Thomas L. Kash · 1997 to 2026
$9.3M
UNC-CH NADIA Underage Drinking and Adult Brain Morphology in RatsU01AA020023 · NIAAA · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI CREWS, FULTON T · 2010 to 2024
$7.5M
Brain Tissue Resource Centre for Alcohol ResearchR28AA012725 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY · PI Greg Trevor Sutherland · 2012 to 2026
$7.0M
UNC-CH NADIA Administrative CoreU24AA020024 · NIAAA · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI CREWS, FULTON T · 2010 to 2024
$6.6M
MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR PATHOGENESIS IN ALCOHOLISMP50AA011605 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI CREWS, FULTON T · 1998 to 2002
$4.9M
BRAIN TISSUE RESOURCE CENTER FOR ALCOHOL RESEARCHR24AA012725 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY · PI KRIL, JILLIAN JUNE · 2000 to 2011
$2.2M
UNC-CH NADIA Scientific CoreU24AA020022 · NIAAA · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI CREWS, FULTON T · 2010 to 2014
$2.2M
Pregnane X receptor (PRX)-dependent mechanisms of alcoholic liver diseaseU54AA019767 · NIAAA · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI CREWS, FULTON T · 2010 to 2019
$2.1M
High Sensitivity Flow Cytometer for Microparticle ResearchS10OD012052 · OD · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI FISHER, NANCY C. · 2012 to 2012
$169k
Adult neurobiology following adolescent drinkingF32AA021040 · NIAAA · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI VETRENO, RYAN PETER · 2012 to 2013
$101k
NIAAA NIH HHS F32 AA021040NIAAA NIH HHS P50 AA011605NIAAA NIH HHS P60 AA011605NIAAA NIH HHS R24 AA012725NIAAA NIH HHS R28 AA012725NIAAA NIH HHS T32 AA007573NIAAA NIH HHS U01 AA020023NIAAA NIH HHS U24 AA020022NIAAA NIH HHS U24 AA020024NIAAA NIH HHS U54 AA019767NIH HHS S10 OD012052
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundToll-like receptor (TLR) signaling is emerging as an important component of neurodegeneration. TLR7 senses viral RNA and certain endogenous miRNAs to initiate innate immune responses leading to neurodegeneration. Alcoholism is associated with hippocampal degeneration, with preclinical studies linking ethanol-induced neurodegeneration with central innate immune induction and TLR activation. The endogenous miRNA let-7b binds TLR7 to cause neurodegeneration.

methodsTLR7 and other immune markers were assessed in postmortem human hippocampal tissue that was obtained from the New South Wales Tissue Bank. Rat hippocampal-entorhinal cortex (HEC) slice culture was used to assess specific effects of ethanol on TLR7, let-7b, and microvesicles.

resultsWe report here that hippocampal tissue from postmortem human alcoholic brains shows increased expression of TLR7 and increased microglial activation. Using HEC slice culture, we found that ethanol induces TLR7 and let-7b expression. Ethanol caused TLR7-associated neuroimmune gene induction and initiated the release let-7b in microvesicles (MVs), enhancing TLR7-mediated neurotoxicity. Further, ethanol increased let-7b binding to the danger signaling molecule high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) in MVs, while reducing let-7 binding to classical chaperone protein argonaute (Ago2). Flow cytometric analysis of MVs from HEC media and analysis of MVs from brain cell culture lines found that microglia were the primary source of let-7b and HMGB1-containing MVs.

conclusionsOur results identify that ethanol induces neuroimmune pathology involving the release of let-7b/HMGB1 complexes in microglia-derived microvesicles. This contributes to hippocampal neurodegeneration and may play a role in the pathology of alcoholism.

Indexed as

HippocampusAdultAlcoholismAnimalsArgonaute ProteinsAutopsyEthanolFemaleGene Expression RegulationHMGB1 ProteinHumansInterleukin-1betaMaleMicrogliaMicroRNAsMicrovesselsAgo2 protein, ratArgonaute ProteinsEthanolHMGB1 ProteinInterleukin-1betaMicroRNAsmirnlet7 microRNA, humanTLR7 protein, humanToll-Like Receptor 7Tumor Necrosis Factor-alphaAlcoholAmphoterinMicro-RNAMicrovesiclesNeurodegenerationToll-like receptor 7

Identifiers

PMID28118842
PMCPMC5264311
OpenAlexW2582409952

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.