scholarly journals Molecular Mechanisms: Connections between Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Steatohepatitis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatsuo Kanda ◽  
Taichiro Goto ◽  
Yosuke Hirotsu ◽  
Ryota Masuzaki ◽  
Mitsuhiko Moriyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Hepatic Fibrosis ◽  
Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Bacterial Overgrowth ◽  
Sequence Variant ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), causes hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The patatin-like phospholipase-3 (PNPLA3) I148M sequence variant is one of the strongest genetic determinants of NAFLD/NASH. PNPLA3 is an independent risk factor for HCC among patients with NASH. The obesity epidemic is closely associated with the rising prevalence and severity of NAFLD/NASH. Furthermore, metabolic syndrome exacerbates the course of NAFLD/NASH. These factors are able to induce apoptosis and activate immune and inflammatory pathways, resulting in the development of hepatic fibrosis and NASH, leading to progression toward HCC. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), destruction of the intestinal mucosa barrier function and a high-fat diet all seem to exacerbate the development of hepatic fibrosis and NASH, leading to HCC in patients with NAFLD/NASH. Thus, the intestinal microbiota may play a role in the development of NAFLD/NASH. In this review, we describe recent advances in our knowledge of the molecular mechanisms contributing to the development of hepatic fibrosis and HCC in patients with NAFLD/NASH.

scholarly journals Molecular profiling of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease-associated hepatocellular carcinoma using SB transposon mutagenesis

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (44) ◽  
pp. E10417-E10426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takahiro Kodama ◽  
Jing Yi ◽  
Justin Y. Newberg ◽  
Jean C. Tien ◽  
Hao Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Sleeping Beauty ◽  
Transposon Mutagenesis ◽  
Hippo Signaling ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the fastest rising cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Western countries; however, the molecular mechanisms that cause NAFLD-HCC remain elusive. To identify molecular drivers of NAFLD-HCC, we performed Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon mutagenesis screens in liver-specific Pten knockout and in high-fat diet-fed mice, which are murine models of NAFLD-HCC. SB mutagenesis accelerated liver tumor formation in both models and identified 588 and 376 candidate cancer genes (CCGs), respectively; 257 CCGs were common to both screens and were enriched in signaling pathways known to be important for human HCC. Comparison of these CCGs with those identified in a previous SB screen of hepatitis B virus-induced HCC identified a core set of 141 CCGs that were mutated in all screens. Forty-one CCGs appeared specific for NAFLD-HCC, including Sav1, a component of the Hippo signaling pathway and the most frequently mutated gene identified in both NAFLD-HCC screens. Liver-specific deletion of Sav1 was found to promote hepatic lipid accumulation, apoptosis, and fibrogenesis, leading to the acceleration of hepatocarcinogenesis in liver-specific Pten mutant mice. Sav1/Pten double-mutant livers also showed a striking up-regulation of markers of liver progenitor cells (LPCs), along with synergistic activation of Yap, which is a major downstream effector of Hippo signaling. Lastly, Yap activation, in combination with Pten inactivation, was found to accelerate cell growth and sphere formation of LPCs in vitro and induce their malignant transformation in allografts. Our forward genetic screens in mice have thus identified pathways and genes driving the development of NAFLD-HCC.

scholarly journals The Role of Insulin Resistance and Diabetes in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 3863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideki Fujii ◽  
Norifumi Kawada ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Resistance ◽  
Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Hepatic Fibrosis ◽  
Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Stellate Cell ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver ◽  
The Relationship

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) consists of the entire spectrum of fatty liver disease in patients without significant alcohol consumption, ranging from nonalcoholic fatty liver (NAFL) to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) to cirrhosis, with NASH recently shown as an important cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). There is a close relationship between insulin resistance (IR) and NAFLD, with a five-fold higher prevalence of NAFLD in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) compared to that in patients without T2DM. IR is involved in the progression of disease conditions such as steatosis and NASH, as well as hepatic fibrosis progression. The mechanisms underlying these processes involve genetic factors, hepatic fat accumulation, alterations in energy metabolism, and inflammatory signals derived from various cell types including immune cells. In NASH-associated fibrosis, the principal cell type responsible for extracellular matrix production is the hepatic stellate cell (HSC). HSC activation by IR involves “direct” and “indirect” pathways. This review will describe the molecular mechanisms of inflammation and hepatic fibrosis in IR, the relationship between T2DM and hepatic fibrosis, and the relationship between T2DM and HCC in patients with NAFLD.

scholarly journals The Current View of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 516
Author(s):  
Tomomi Kogiso ◽  
Katsutoshi Tokushige
Keyword(s):  
Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽  
Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Current View ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver ◽  
Obesity And Diabetes ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Lifestyle Related Diseases

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and can develop into hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The incidence of NAFLD-related HCC, which is accompanied by life-threatening complications, is increasing. Advanced fibrosis and lifestyle-related and metabolic comorbidities, especially obesity and diabetes mellitus, are associated with HCC development. However, HCC is also observed in the non-cirrhotic liver. Often, diagnosis is delayed until the tumor is relatively large and the disease is advanced; an effective screening or surveillance method is urgently required. Recently, the NAFLD/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) guidelines of Japan were revised to incorporate new strategies and evidence for the management and surveillance of NAFLD/NASH. Fibrosis must be tested for noninvasively, and the risk of carcinogenesis must be stratified. The treatment of lifestyle-related diseases is expected to reduce the incidence of NAFLD and prevent liver carcinogenesis.

scholarly journals Sex Dimorphism of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in Pparg-Null Mice

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (18) ◽  
pp. 9969
Author(s):  
Mariano Schiffrin ◽  
Carine Winkler ◽  
Laure Quignodon ◽  
Aurélien Naldi ◽  
Martin Trötzmüller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver Disease ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Liver Steatosis ◽  
Whole Body ◽  
Sex Dimorphism ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver

Men with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are more exposed to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis than women. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of NALFD sex dimorphism are unclear. We combined gene expression, histological and lipidomic analyses to systematically compare male and female liver steatosis. We characterized hepatosteatosis in three independent mouse models of NAFLD, ob/ob and lipodystrophic fat-specific (PpargFΔ/Δ) and whole-body PPARγ-null (PpargΔ/Δ) mice. We identified a clear sex dimorphism occurring only in PpargΔ/Δ mice, with females showing macro- and microvesicular hepatosteatosis throughout their entire life, while males had fewer lipid droplets starting from 20 weeks. This sex dimorphism in hepatosteatosis was lost in gonadectomized PpargΔ/Δ mice. Lipidomics revealed hepatic accumulation of short and highly saturated TGs in females, while TGs were enriched in long and unsaturated hydrocarbon chains in males. Strikingly, sex-biased genes were particularly perturbed in both sexes, affecting lipid metabolism, drug metabolism, inflammatory and cellular stress response pathways. Most importantly, we found that the expression of key sex-biased genes was severely affected in all the NAFLD models we tested. Thus, hepatosteatosis strongly affects hepatic sex-biased gene expression. With NAFLD increasing in prevalence, this emphasizes the urgent need to specifically address the consequences of this deregulation in humans.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document