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Transcriptome Profiling Provides Insights into Mongolian Gerbil as an Ideal NAFLD Model : Earlier Onset of Inflammation and Fibrosis as Well as High Expression of HCC-Associated Genes

ABSTRACT: Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) is an ideal animal model for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease/nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NAFLD/NASH) which is under development. Currently, the research and application of Mongolian gerbils have been largely limited due to the lack of genomic and transcriptome information. In the present study, we sought to better understand the underlying mechanism of the rapid development of NASH in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed Mongolian gerbils by analyzing the transcriptome profilings of different modeling times. Eight hub genes CD44, APP, CDC42, CD68, CXCR4, CSF1R, ADGRE1 and FERMT3 were obtained, which are all involved in inflammation response and CDC42 and FERMT3 are associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Most of the hub genes showed high expression levels in the first stage of modeling-building (HFD for 4 weeks). We observed that feeding HFD for 4 weeks is sufficient to induce high expression of pro-fibrotic factors such as PDGFB and CTGF and to form collagen deposits. Intriguingly, we found four significant independent prognostic factors for HCC: GPC1, ARPC1B, DAB2 and CFL exhibiting high expression levels during the modeling time. Our findings indicated that, Mongolian gerbil is an ideal NAFLD model with rapid progression in inflammation and fibrosis. Prolonging the modeling time may lead to the formation of NAFLD-related HCC and further research is needed to investigate this possibility.

ORGANISM(S): Meriones unguiculatus

PROVIDER: GSE157169 | GEO | 2022/02/23

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Transcriptome Profiling Provides Insights into Mongolian Gerbil as an Ideal NAFLD Model : Earlier Onset of Inflammation and Fibrosis as Well as High Expression of HCC-Associated Genes

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