Homo sapiens

SMART-NAFLD : A Systems Medicine Approach to Early Detection and Prevention of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

The massive increase in obesity is leading to an alarming rise in non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD). This development will lead to a dramatic increase in liver diseases such as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A particular challenge is that NAFLD-associated HCCs, for reasons still unknown, not only occur in association with advanced liver fibrosis/cirrhosis, ...

One of the tasks of the healthy liver is to store fat. Yet, at some stage, too much fat makes the liver sick. One critical time point occurs when a healthy fatty liver becomes inflamed and progresses to steatohepatitis, or NASH. LiSyM-Pillar I will identify what events lead to this transition. Does it occur in all parts of the liver? Which molecules indicate that it is taking place? Can the degeneration be stopped or undone - and if so, how?

Forschungsnetzwerk zur Früherkennung und Prävention- LiSyM-Krebs

Ein Netzwerk von Klinikern, Wissenschaftlern und Datenmanagern hat sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, Methoden zu entwickeln, um Patienten mit einem hohen Risiko für ein Leberkarzinom frühzeitig, in Vorstadien der Tumorentwicklung, identifizieren zu können. Gemeinsam bilden sie das „Systemmedizinische Forschungsnetzwerk zur Früherkennung und Prävention von Leberkrebs“, LiSym-Krebs, das vom Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung ...

In one in five people with NAFLD, the functioning liver cells, the hepatocytes, are replaced by connective tissue. Eventually this fibrosis becomes irreversible. In this state the liver is like a ‘scar that never heals’. Through it, the liver loses many of its vital functions. LiSyM-Pillar II wants to know more about which factors promote fibrosis and the conditions under which fibrosis becomes irreversible How can fibrosis be diagnosed as early as possible? Researchers in the pillar are also ...

In chronic diseases, at some point the liver can suddenly stop functioning. This is called acute-on-chronic liver failure, or ACLF. This is the leading cause of death in liver patients and is often provoked by the use of transcription or freely available drugs or alcohol abuse. For this condition we need an effective treatment quickly. LiSyM-Pillar III researches the factors that contribute significantly to ACLF. What exactly happens then? Are there any early signs that would enable ACLF to be ...

Transcriptomic analysis of hepatocytes captured by laser micro-dissection from hepatic zone: periportal (PP)

Transcriptomic analysis of hepatocytes captured by laser micro-dissection from hepatic zone: intermediate (IZ)

DNA-methylation at binding sites of uniformly expressed transcription factors in human hepatocytes ; hepatic zone: intermediate (IZ)

Transcriptomic analysis of hepatocytes captured by laser micro-dissection from hepatic zone: pericentral (CV)

DNA-methylation at binding sites of uniformly expressed transcription factors in human hepatocytes ; hepatic zone: pericentral (CV)

Code for the bile flow model in Segovia-Miranda et al.: Three-dimensional spatially resolved geometrical and functional models of human liver tissue reveal new aspects of NAFLD progression (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0660-7)

See the README file in the link for details installing and running the code.