Rab46 and the liver

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a chronic liver condition characterised by excessive fat in the liver, is associated with insulin resistance (as in type II diabetes), obesity and lipidaemia. The progression of NAFLD to NASH is multifactorial, however, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood and whilst a population of patients develop NASH some, with the same co-morbidities and risk factors, just have a fatty liver. Recently a pilot GWAS in patients with NAFLD looked at genetic variants significantly associated with hepatic histology. They identified rs887304 on chromosome 12 in EFCAB4B to be associated with lobular inflammation. It is important therefore to understand the contribution of CRACR2A and Rab46 to liver function. Here we utilized an Efcab4b global knockout mouse to explore the gene expression in liver.