作者
Weize Zhu,Ying Hong,Zhaowei Tong,He Xiao,Y. Li,Hao Wang,Xinxin Gao,Peng Song,Xianshan Zhang,Xuefeng Wu,Zhenhua Tan,Weidong Huang,Yi Li,Yiyang Bao,Junli Ma,Ningning Zheng,Cen Xie,Xisong Ke,Zheng Wen,Jia Wang,Mingxiao Li,Jun Zhong,Lili Sheng,Houkai Li
摘要
Metabolic (dysfunction)-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is the advanced stage of metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) lacking approved clinical drugs. Adenosine A1 receptor (A1R), belonging to the G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) superfamily, is mainly distributed in the central nervous system and major peripheral organs with wide-ranging physiological functions; however, the exact role of hepatic A1R in MAFLD remains unclear. Here, we report that liver-specific depletion of A1R aggravates while overexpression attenuates diet-induced metabolic-associated fatty liver (MAFL)/MASH in mice. Mechanistically, activation of hepatic A1R promotes the competitive binding of sterol-regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) to sequestosome 1 (SQSTM1), rather than protein kinase A (PKA) leading to SCAP degradation in lysosomes. Reduced SCAP hinders SREBP1c/2 maturation and thus suppresses de novo lipogenesis and inflammation. Higher hepatic A1R expression is observed in patients with MAFL/MASH and high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice, which is supposed to be a physiologically adaptive response because A1R agonists attenuate MAFL/MASH in an A1R-dependent manner. These results highlight that hepatic A1R is a potential target for MAFL/MASH therapy.