Grant: Project Grant

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major health problem that is caused by accumulation of lipids called triglyceride and cholesterol in liver cells. This disease affects about 30% of the adult population and over 70% of people with obesity, making NAFLD the most common chronic liver disorder. The health risk for people with NAFLD is that this disease can progress to more serious problems including: •inflammation and swelling of the liver, called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) •normal liver tissue being replaced by non-living scar tissue, called cirrhosis •end-stage liver disease and liver failure, the most common reason for needing a liver transplant Having NAFLD or NASH also places people at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease and end-stage kidney disease. Today, we have no effective treatments for NASH. We have discovered that a protein called AADAC regulates liver fat storage. We showed that reducing the amount this protein in the liver leads to the development of fatty liver, insulin insensitivity and weight gain. Our prosed research aims to find out how AADAC regulates liver fat production and storage. Better understanding of how AADAC works may lead to identification of new potential drug targets for treatments for NAFLD/NASH and diseases triggered by liver fat accretion.