Dysregulation of the Splicing Machinery Is Associated to the Development of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

Context Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common obesity-associated pathology characterized by hepatic fat accumulation, which can progress to fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Obesity is associated with profound changes in gene-expression patterns of the liver, which could contribute to the onset of comorbidities. Objective As these alterations might be linked to a dysregulation of the splicing process, we aimed to determine whether the dysregulation in the expression of splicing machinery components could be associated with NAFLD. Participants We collected 41 liver biopsies from nonalcoholic individuals with obesity, with or without hepatic steatosis, who underwent bariatric surgery. Interventions The expression pattern of splicing machinery components was determined using a microfluidic quantitative PCR-based array. An in vitro approximation to determine lipid accumulation using HepG2 cells was also implemented. Results The liver of patients with obesity and steatosis exhibited a severe dysregulation of certain splicing machinery components compared with patients with obesity without steatosis. Nonsupervised clustering analysis allowed the identification of three molecular phenotypes of NAFLD with a unique fingerprint of alterations in splicing machinery components, which also presented distinctive hepatic and clinical-metabolic alterations and a differential response to bariatric surgery after 1 year. In addition, in vitro silencing of certain splicing machinery components (i.e., PTBP1, RBM45, SND1) reduced fat accumulation and modulated the expression of key de novo lipogenesis enzymes, whereas conversely, fat accumulation did not alter spliceosome components expression. Conclusion There is a close relationship between splicing machinery dysregulation and NAFLD development, which should be further investigated to identify alternative therapeutic targets.