Yue Ling Moo

• MBBS (NUMed Malaysia)
• Use of precision cut liver slices to delineate early fibrotic events in NAFLD

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) affects around 30% of global population. It encompasses a range of conditions from fatty liver (simple steatosis) to highly scarred organ which at its end stage becomes cirrhosis. There is no treatment available as the mechanisms of liver fibrosis are not well understood. Thus, this project aims to unravel the molecular mechanisms regulate transition from simple steatosis onto scar depositing condition by treating fat loaded precision-cut liver slices (PCLS) with scar inducing agents and carrying out quantitative PCR on the samples. PCLS were used to keep the cell numbers and composition intact and the slices were cultured with a bioreactor to keep the cells alive up to 6 days. Results showed that the upregulation of DNMT3a, DNMT3b, TET2, TET3 and EZH2 genes is the possible cause of liver fibrosis. 

Funding source: Newcastle University

Supervisors: Prof Jelena Mann