TREM2 sustains macrophage-hepatocyte metabolic coordination in NAFLD and sepsis [Mouse_liver_RNA_seq]

The goals of this study are to corroborate whether Trem2 has a protective role against metabolic dysfunction and progression in a mouse model of NAFLD. We further performed an unbiased transcriptome analysis from the livers of 8-week HFD-fed WT versus Trem2–/– mice. In this screen, a cluster of 104 transcripts were up-regulated and 57 were down-regulated in response to Trem2 deficiency. Among these differentially expressed genes (adjusted P < 0.05), gene sets that contribute to fatty acid metabolic dysfunction, collagen fibril organization and cytokine secretion were significantly enriched in Trem2–/– livers, whereas long-chain/unsaturated fatty acid metabolic process and monocarboxylic acid metabolic process were overrepresented among WT livers. Overall design: 8-weeks old Trem2-deficient (Trem2–/–) and littermate wild-type (WT) mice were placed on 8 weeks High fat diet feeding, and then their livers were harvest for liver transcriptome analysis.