Featured Publications
Mitochondrial DNA and the STING pathway are required for hepatic stellate cell activation
Arumugam S, Li B, Boodapati S, Nathanson M, Sun B, Ouyang X, Mehal W. Mitochondrial DNA and the STING pathway are required for hepatic stellate cell activation. Hepatology 2023, 78: 1448-1461. PMID: 37013923, PMCID: PMC10804318, DOI: 10.1097/hep.0000000000000388.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsVoltage-dependent anion channelBioenergetic capacityMitochondrial DNATranscriptional upregulationCyclic GMP-AMP synthaseGMP-AMP synthaseTranscriptional regulationBioenergetic organellesFunctional mitochondriaMitochondrial membraneExternal mitochondrial membraneAnabolic pathwaysMitochondrial massAnion channelInterferon genesHSC transdifferentiationSubsequent activationCGAS-STINGTransdifferentiationIRF3 pathwayPathwaySTING pathwayGenesMitochondriaQuiescent HSCs
2016
Hepatocyte mitochondrial DNA drives nonalcoholic steatohepatitis by activation of TLR9
Garcia-Martinez I, Santoro N, Chen Y, Hoque R, Ouyang X, Caprio S, Shlomchik MJ, Coffman RL, Candia A, Mehal WZ. Hepatocyte mitochondrial DNA drives nonalcoholic steatohepatitis by activation of TLR9. Journal Of Clinical Investigation 2016, 126: 859-864. PMID: 26808498, PMCID: PMC4767345, DOI: 10.1172/jci83885.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsDevelopment of NASHNonalcoholic steatohepatitisTLR9 pathwayTLR9 pathway activationCommon liver diseaseObesity-induced changesHigh-fat dietActivation of TLR9Progressive diseaseLiver diseaseInflammatory phenotypeTLR9 antagonistTLR9Animal modelsPlasma mtDNAHepatocyte originPathway activationSteatohepatitisDiseaseMiceCellular requirementsActivationActivation capacityHigh levelsCirrhosis