OR02-3 SLAMF-1 mediates Hepatocyte Death in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and is Plasma values correlates with the Severity of the Disease in Human

The signaling lymphocytic activation molecule 1 (SLAMF1) exerts a role in regulating the immune response to some viruses and parasite infections. In the present study, we identified SLAMF1 as a potential therapeutic target and biomarker for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NASH) in humans. We found that SLAMF1 is highly expressed in liver samples from mice and humans with NASH. Our data also show SLAMF1 is detected in plasma, and its levels correlate with the severity of the disease. To uncover a molecular role for SLAMF1 in hepatocytes, we treated two hepatocyte cell lines (HepG2 and HuH-7) and primary mouse hepatocyte with palmitic acid (PA) to induce lipotoxicity, characteristic of NASH. We found that PA treatment leads to a significant increase in SLAMF1 protein levels in the cell lines and primary hepatocytes. We found an increase in HepG2 cell apoptosis in response to PA treatment, and downregulation of SLAMF1 in hepatocytes with siRNA improved cell viability and reduced cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and the expression of inflammatory mediators. Moreover, we found that PA-treated HepG2 cells secrete SLAMF1 in the culture medium, which may be mediating part of these effects through paracrine action. Our findings suggest a role for SLAMF1 in NASH's pathogenesis and highlight SLAMF1 as a reliable clinical biomarker of the disease. Presentation: Saturday, June 11, 2022 12:00 p.m. - 12:15 p.m.