Lundberg Laboratory for Diabetes Research, Department of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Institute of Medicine, University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2019;7(3):597-618. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2018.12.004. Epub 2018 Dec 19.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) are emerging as leading causes of liver disease worldwide. Currently, no specific pharmacologic therapy is available for NAFLD/NASH, which has been recognized as one of the major unmet medical needs of the 21st century. Our recent studies in genetic mouse models, human cell lines, and well-characterized patient cohorts have identified serine/threonine protein kinase (STK)25 as a critical regulator of hepatic lipid partitioning and NAFLD/NASH. Here, we studied the metabolic benefit of liver-specific STK25 inhibitors on NAFLD development and progression in a mouse model of diet-induced obesity. METHODS: We developed a hepatocyte-specific triantennary N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc)-conjugated antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) targeting Stk25 and evaluated its effect on NAFLD features in mice after chronic exposure to dietary lipids. RESULTS: We found that systemic administration of hepatocyte-targeting GalNAc-Stk25 ASO in obese mice effectively ameliorated steatosis, inflammatory infiltration, hepatic stellate cell activation, nutritional fibrosis, and hepatocellular damage in the liver compared with mice treated with GalNAc-conjugated nontargeting ASO, without any systemic toxicity or local tolerability concerns. We also observed protection against high-fat-diet-induced hepatic oxidative stress and improved mitochondrial function with Stk25 ASO treatment in mice. Moreover, GalNAc-Stk25 ASO suppressed lipogenic gene expression and acetyl-CoA carboxylase protein abundance in the liver, providing insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying repression of hepatic steatosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides in vivo nonclinical proof-of-principle for the metabolic benefit of liver-specific inhibition of STK25 in the context of obesity and warrants future investigations to address the therapeutic potential of GalNAc-Stk25 ASO in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD.
背景与目的:非酒精性脂肪性肝病(NAFLD)和非酒精性脂肪性肝炎(NASH)正在成为全球范围内导致肝脏疾病的主要原因。目前,NAFLD/NASH 尚无特定的药物治疗方法,这已被认为是 21 世纪主要的未满足医疗需求之一。我们最近在遗传小鼠模型、人类细胞系和特征明确的患者队列中的研究发现,丝氨酸/苏氨酸蛋白激酶(STK)25 是肝脏脂质分配和 NAFLD/NASH 的关键调节因子。在这里,我们研究了肝特异性 STK25 抑制剂在饮食诱导肥胖的小鼠模型中对 NAFLD 发展和进展的代谢益处。
方法:我们开发了一种针对 Stk25 的肝细胞特异性三触角 N-乙酰半乳糖胺(GalNAc)缀合的反义寡核苷酸(ASO),并评估了其在慢性暴露于饮食脂质后对小鼠 NAFLD 特征的影响。
结果:我们发现,在肥胖小鼠中系统给予肝细胞靶向 GalNAc-Stk25 ASO 可有效改善肝脂肪变性、炎症浸润、肝星状细胞激活、营养性纤维化和肝细胞损伤,与用 GalNAc 缀合的非靶向 ASO 治疗的小鼠相比,没有任何全身毒性或局部耐受性问题。我们还观察到用 Stk25 ASO 治疗可防止高脂肪饮食引起的肝氧化应激和改善线粒体功能。此外,GalNAc-Stk25 ASO 抑制了肝脏中脂肪生成基因的表达和乙酰辅酶 A 羧化酶蛋白的丰度,为抑制肝脂肪变性的分子机制提供了见解。
结论:这项研究为肥胖背景下肝特异性抑制 STK25 的代谢益处提供了体内非临床初步证据,并需要进一步研究来解决 GalNAc-Stk25 ASO 在预防和治疗 NAFLD 中的治疗潜力。
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