A protein, called RNF41, would help fight liver damage and improve liver regeneration, especially in cases of cirrhosis or fibrosis, Spanish researchers have discovered.
A protein, called RNF41could contribute to regenerate a diseased liverespecially in the case ofcirrhosis or liver inflammation (hepatic steatosis for example). In any case, this is what researchers from the University of Barcelona discovered in a study published on July 12, 2023 in the journal Science Translational Medicine. This protein is thought to be involved in macrophage activity, of the immune system defense cells capable of destroying pathogens, thus playing a major role in the response to liver damage and in the progression of chronic liver disease. In other words, the RNF41 protein would help fight liver fibrosis and to improve liver regeneration. To achieve these results, the researchers studied the organism of mice with a diseased liver (mice with cirrhosis or fibrosis) and found that in these mice, the amount of RNF41 protein was reduced compared to mice with a healthy liver. Therefore, chronic liver inflammation could be responsible for the reduction of RNF41 protein in macrophages. At the same time, in vitro studies have confirmed that a disappearance of the RNF41 protein in macrophages could trigger an inflammatory cytokine storm, resulting in increased fibrosis and liver damage linked to a higher risk of mortality. The restoration of the RNF41 protein is therefore necessary to regenerate a fibrous or inflamed liver.
RNF41 protein could lead to the design of new drugs for the liver
This discovery is thus a new therapeutic target in the fight against cirrhosis and chronic inflammation of the liver and could allow “to conceive of new drugs to increase expression of this key protein in regulating the role of macrophages in liver inflammation and fibrosis“, concludes Pedro Melgar-Lesmes, researcher at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University of Barcelona who led the study, in a statement from July 28, 2023. Today in Francenearly 17% of the population have a liver too fat. Among these people, 2.6%, or 200,000 peoplehave advanced liver fibrosis that can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer.