2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Novel biomarker for evaluation of autophagic dysfunction in the liver

Research Project

Project/Area Number	23590989
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Research Field	Gastroenterology
Research Institution	Juntendo University
Principal Investigator	YAMASHINA SHUNHEI 順天堂大学, 医学部, 准教授 (30338412)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	UENO Takashi 順天堂大学, 医学研究科, 教授 (10053373) IKEJIMA Kenichi 順天堂大学, 消化器内科, 准教授 (20317382)
Project Period (FY)	2011 – 2013
Keywords	オートファジー / バイオマーカー / 核膜蛋白 / 肝疾患
Research Abstract	We found that autophagic dysfunction alters the expression of nuclear membrane protein. Nuclear membrane proteins increased in autophagic dysfunction might be an useful biomarker to evaluate autophagic dysfunction. On the other hand, aggregation of p62 in hepatocytes was detected in about 65% of NAFLD correlatively to suppression of cathepsin B, D and L expression. In NAFLD patients, p62 aggregation was correlated with serum alanine aminotransferase value and inflammatory activity by NAS. These findings indicate that the suppression of autophagic proteolysis by hepatic steatosis is involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD.