Asparagine protects pericentral hepatocytes during acute liver injury.

ABSTRACT: The nonessential amino acid asparagine can only be synthesized de novo by the enzymatic activity of asparagine synthetase (ASNS). While ASNS and asparagine have been implicated in the response to numerous metabolic stressors in cultured cells, the in vivo relevance of this enzyme in stress-related pathways remains unexplored. Here, we found ASNS to be expressed in pericentral hepatocytes, a population of hepatic cells specialized in xenobiotic detoxification. ASNS expression was strongly enhanced in 2 models of acute liver injury: carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and acetaminophen. We found that mice with hepatocyte-specific Asns deletion were more prone to pericentral liver damage than their control littermates after toxin exposure. This phenotype could be reverted by i.v. administration of as

SUBMITTER: Sun Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10065070 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature