Amelioration of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by targeting G protein-coupled receptor 110: A preclinical study

Background: Recent research has shown that the G protein-coupled receptor 110 (GPR110) is an oncogene. The evidence mainly based on high expression of GPR110 in numerous cancer types; and knockdown GPR110 can reduced the cell migration, invasion, and proliferation. GPR110 is, however, mostly expressed in the liver of healthy individuals. The function of GPR110 in liver has not been revealed. Interestingly, expression level of hepatic GPR110 is dramatically decreased in obese subjects. Here, we examined whether GPR110 has a role in liver metabolism.

Methods: We used recombinant adeno-associated virus-mediated gene delivery system and antisense oligonucleotide to manipulate the hepatic GPR110 expression level in diet-induced obese mice to investigate the role of GPR110 in hepatic steatosis. The clinical relevance was examined using transcriptome profiling and archived biopsy specimens of liver tissues from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients with different degree of fatty liver.

Results: The expression of GPR110 in the liver was directly correlated to fat content in the livers of both obese mice and NAFLD patients. Stearoyl-coA desaturase 1 (SCD1), a crucial enzyme in hepatic de novo lipogenesis, was identified as a downstream target of GPR110 by RNA-sequencing analysis. Treatment with the liver-specific SCD1 inhibitor MK8245 and specific shRNAs against SCD1 in primary hepatocytes improved the hepatic steatosis of GPR110-overexpressing mice and lipid profile of hepatocytes, respectively.

Conclusions: These results indicate GPR110 regulates hepatic lipid metabolism through controlling the expression of SCD1. Down-regulation of GPR110 expression can potentially serve as a protective mechanism to stop the over-accumulation of fat in the liver in obese subjects. Overall, our findings not only reveal a new mechanism regulation the progression of NALFD, but also proposed a novel therapeutic approach to combat NAFLD by targeting GPR110.

Fundings: This work was supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China 81870586 (CMW), 82270941 and 81974117 (JS), Area of Excellence AoE/M-707/18 (AX and CMW), and General Research Fund 15101520 (CMW).