LPI's role in the progression of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)

Recent studies have identified a genetic variant rs641738 near two genes encoding membrane bound O-acyltransferase domain-containing 7 (MBOAT7) and transmembrane channel-like 4 (TMC4) that associate with increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), alcohol-related cirrhosis, and liver fibrosis in those infected with viral hepatitis1-7. Based on hepatic expression quantitative trait loci analysis it has been suggested that MBOAT7 loss of function promotes liver disease progression1-7, but this has never been formally tested. Here we show that Mboat7 loss, but not Tmc4, in mice is sufficient to promote the progression of NAFLD in the setting of high fat diet. Mboat7 loss of function is associated with accumulation of its substrate lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) lipids, and direct administration of LPI promotes hepatic inflammatory and fibrotic transcriptional changes in an Mboat7-dependent manner. These studies reveal a novel role for MBOAT7-driven acylation of LPI lipids in suppressing the progression of N To assess the role of MBOAT7 loss of function in NAFLD and NASH. We injected the substrate of MBOAT7, lysophosphatidylinostiol 18:0, or Saline in the portal vein of mice. The livers were then snap frozen and a standard RNA isolation was run to assess transcriptome changes after the addition of LPI's for six hours. Overall design: RNAseq of Liver homogenate +/- 18:0 Lysophosphatidylinositol Please note that the processed data file contains raw count data for both GSE138945 and GSE138946 samples.