BackgroundChronic changes caused by a high‐fat diet (HFD) may be associated with weakened lung function in obese patients. However, few studies have focused on the role of senescent cells in HFD‐induced pulmonary fibrosis. This study aimed to determine whether (i) obesity causes the accumulation of aging cells in the lungs, (ii) p16 accumulation in aging epithelial cells or fibroblasts exacerbates long‐term HFD‐induced senescence‐associated pulmonary fibrosis (SAPF) and (iii)p16deletion or clearance of aging cells ameliorates HFD‐induced SAPF through inactivation of the inflammasome and metabolic remodelling.MethodsTwelve‐month old male mice ofp16INK4a(hereafter p16) knockout (p16−−) and wild‐type (WT),ApoEknockout (ApoE−−) andApoE−−p16−−were fed a HFD to induce obesity, and the effects of treatment with the senolytic drug ABT263 or the SGK1 specific inhibitor EMD638683 on fibrosis, inflammaging, gene expression, integrin‐inflammasome signalling and metabolism were examined. A549 and IMR‐90 cells were transduced withp16‐overexpressing adenovirus, and treated with palmitic and oleic acids (P&O) to induce steatosis in vitro.ResultsWe found that long‐term HFD promoted the expression of p16 and the increase of senescent cells in the lung.P16knockout or ABT263 treatment alleviated pulmonary fibrosis, the increase of senescent cells and senescence‐associated secretory phenotype (SASP) in HFD‐fed mice, as well as in P&O‐treated A549 and IMR‐90 cells. RNA sequencing and bioinformatics analyses revealed thatp16knockout inhibited activation of the integrin‐inflammasome pathway and cellular glycolysis. Mass spectrometry, co‐immunoprecipitation and GST pull‐down assays demonstrated that p16 bound to theN‐terminal of SGK1, thereby interfering with the interaction between the E3 ubiquitin ligase NEDD4L and SGK1, and subsequently inhibiting K48‐polyubiquitin‐dependent degradation of SGK1 mediated by the NEDD4L–Ubch5 complex. EMD638683 was found to alleviate HFD‐induced pulmonary fibrosis and activation of the integrin‐inflammasome pathway.ConclusionP16 accumulation promoted activation of integrin– inflammasome pathway and cell glycolysis by binding to the N– terminal of SGK1, intefering with the interaction between the E3 ubiquitin ligase NEDD4L and SGK1, thereby inhibiting K48– polyubiquitin– dependent degradation of SGK1 mediated by the NEDD4L–Ubch5 complex. ABT263 or EMD638683 could be used as potential drugs to treat pulmonary fibrosis in obese patients.