Liver TET1 promotes metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease

DNA demethylation is regulated by the TET family proteins, whose enzymatic activity requires 2-oxoglutarate (2-OG) and iron that both are elevated in MASLD. We aimed to investigate liver TET1 in MASLD progression. Depleting TET1 substantially alleviated MASLD progression. Whole body Knockout of TET1 (TKO) slightly improved diet induced obesity and glucose homeostasis. Intriguingly, hepatic cholesterols, triglycerides, were significantly decreased upon TET1 depletion. Moreover, targeting TET1 with a small molecule inhibitor significantly suppressed MASLD progression. Liver TET1 plays a deleterious role in MASLD, suggesting the potential of targeting TET1 in hepatocytes to suppress MASLD. RNA-seq profiling of WT (C57BL/6J) and its coresponding whole body TET-1 knock out, fed with High fat Diet (HFD) for 16 weeks.