Deficiency of gluconeogenic enzyme PCK1 promotes metabolic-associated fatty liver disease through PI3K-AKT-PDGF axis activation in male mice

On March 14, 2023, Ni Tang, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, China, and his team published a paper titled “Deficiency of gluconeogenic enzyme PCK1 promotes metabolic-associated fatty liver disease through PI3K/AKT/PDGF axis activation in male mice” in Nature Communications. They showed that hepatic PCK1 deficiency may be important in hepatic steatosis and fibrosis development through paracrine secretion of PDGF-AA in male mice.

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Metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) encompasses a broad spectrum of hepatic disorders, including steatosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis. We demonstrated that phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (PCK1) plays a central role in MAFLD progression. Male mice with liver Pck1 deficiency fed a normal diet displayed hepatic lipid disorder and liver injury, whereas fibrosis and inflammation were aggravated in mice fed a high-fat diet with drinking water containing fructose and glucose (HFCD-HF/G). Forced expression of hepatic PCK1 by adeno-associated virus ameliorated MAFLD in male mice. PCK1 deficiency stimulated lipogenic gene expression and lipid synthesis. Moreover, loss of hepatic PCK1 activated the RhoA/PI3K/ AKT pathway by increasing intracellular GTP levels, increasing secretion of platelet-derived growth factor-AA (PDGF-AA), and promoting hepatic stellate cell activation. Treatment with RhoA and AKT inhibitors or gene silencing of RhoA or AKT1 alleviated MAFLD progression in vivo. Hepatic PCK1 deficiency may be important in hepatic steatosis and fibrosis development through paracrine secretion of PDGF-AA in male mice, highlighting a potential therapeutic strategy for MAFLD.