Hepatocyte Clock Genes in Alcohol and High Fat Diet - Induced Liver Injury

酒精和高脂肪饮食中的肝细胞时钟基因 - 诱发的肝损伤

• 批准号: 9293725
• 负责人: WILLIAM E RUSSELL
• 金额: $ 0.36万
• 依托单位: VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-06-01 至 2016-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9293725
• 关键词: Hepatocyte; Clock; Genes; Alcohol; Fat

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Disruption of circadian rhythms by shift work, obesity, binge feeding, and aging has adverse effects on the health and well-being of the affected individuals. Within the last 10 years, there has been a profound increase in our understanding of how specific transcriptional factors, known as clock genes, regulate and coordinate circadian rhythms within the central nervous system as well as peripheral tissues. The suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) in the anterior hypothalamus drive many physiological circadian rhythms such as motor activity, core body temperature, and hormone production. The SCN generates these rhythmic signals through a set of interlocking transcriptional and translational feedback loops that involve six main core genes and proteins. These clock genes have been shown to be present and operational in cells within peripheral organs, including the liver, as well. However, their contribution to the control of local circadian rhythms in these organs is not well-defined. Using genetic methods, investigators have shown that the global disruption of the circadian oscillators in the brain and in peripheral tissues of mice adversely affects metabolism, tumor suppression, and drug-induced organ toxicities. For example, a global CLOCK mutant mouse develops an enlarged fatty liver after chronic ingestion of alcohol. However, global clock gene knockouts or transgenic mice can not address whether the peripheral clocks in hepatocytes themselves modulate alcohol-induced injury and fibrosis in these models. Our central hypotheses are that (1) an evaluation of the circadian regulation of hepatic genes involved in alcohol metabolism and injury will enhance our understanding of the hepatotoxic effects of this agent and (2) the loss of the circadian clock in hepatocytes will exacerbate the liver injury and fibrosis caused by alcohol or high fat alone or in combination. In this project, we will use the newly-characterized murine model of a hepatocyte-specific deletion of Bmal 1, an essential clock component. This deletion disrupts some, but not all, circadian rhythms in the hepatocytes, in part because these cells are still responsive to neural or hormonal circadian signals emanating from the SCN or other organs, such as the adrenal gland and digestive tract, or even paracrine signals, from non-parenchymal cells in the liver. We will use this model to investigate whether the intrinsic circadian clock modulates the expression levels of clock genes, genes involved in alcohol metabolism and injury and fibrogenic genes in the ethanol-high fat model of liver injury and fibrosis. This project will lead to a greater understanding of the role played by hepatocyte clock genes in mediating the various hepatic toxicities of alcohol and high fat as well as the hepatic response to chronic injury.

描述（由申请人提供）：轮班工作、肥胖、暴食和衰老造成的昼夜节律紊乱会对受影响个体的健康和福祉产生不利影响。在过去的十年里，我们对特定转录因子（称为时钟基因）如何调节和协调中枢神经系统以及外周组织内的昼夜节律的了解有了深刻的了解。下丘脑前部的视交叉上核 (SCN) 驱动许多生理昼夜节律，例如运动活动、核心体温和激素产生。 SCN 通过一组连锁的转录和翻译反馈环路产生这些节律信号，这些环路涉及六个主要核心基因和蛋白质。这些时钟基因已被证明存在于外周器官（包括肝脏）内的细胞中并发挥作用。然而，它们对控制这些器官局部昼夜节律的贡献尚不清楚。研究人员利用遗传方法表明，小鼠大脑和外周组织中昼夜节律振荡器的整体破坏会对新陈代谢、肿瘤抑制和药物引起的器官毒性产生不利影响。例如，一只全局CLOCK突变小鼠在长期摄入酒精后会出现脂肪肝增大。然而，全局时钟基因敲除或转基因小鼠无法解决这些模型中肝细胞本身的外周时钟是否调节酒精诱导的损伤和纤维化。我们的中心假设是：（1）对参与酒精代谢和损伤的肝脏基因的昼夜节律调节进行评估将增强我们对该药物的肝毒性作用的理解；（2）肝细胞中生物钟的丧失将加剧肝损伤酒精或高脂肪单独或联合引起的损伤和纤维化。在这个项目中，我们将使用新表征的小鼠模型，该模型的肝细胞特异性删除 Bmal 1（一种重要的时钟组件）。这种缺失扰乱了肝细胞中的一些（但不是全部）昼夜节律，部分原因是这些细胞仍然对 SCN 或其他器官（如肾上腺和消化道）发出的神经或激素昼夜节律信号，甚至旁分泌信号做出反应，来自肝脏中的非实质细胞。我们将使用该模型来研究内在生物钟是否调节生物钟基因、参与酒精代谢和损伤的基因以及乙醇高脂肪肝损伤和纤维化模型中的纤维形成基因的表达水平。该项目将有助于更好地了解肝细胞时钟基因在介导酒精和高脂肪的各种肝脏毒性以及肝脏对慢性损伤的反应中所起的作用。