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Obesity Notches up fatty liver

Nature Medicine volume 19, pages 969–971 (2013)Cite this article

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Pathologic fatty liver paradoxically accompanies obesity and type 2 diabetes despite the crippling of insulin signaling, which is normally required for fat synthesis. The developmental signaling protein Notch is a hidden regulator of lipogenesis that amplifies signal transmissions to fat production in these metabolic diseases (pages 1054–1060).

The liver is a central command center for human metabolism. It integrates incoming signals to control production of triglycerides and glucose for use by other tissues and for energy storage in adipose depots. A key regulatory signal of this circuit is insulin, which enhances hepatic triglyceride production while antagonizing synthesis of glucose, lowering its blood concentration. But system failures in obesity and type 2 diabetes wreak havoc with liver metabolism, causing profound pathological increases in synthesis of both glucose and fat. Fatty liver, also called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD, is indeed commonly associated with these metabolic syndromes and can lead to inflammation, fibrosis and even cirrhosis and death.

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Figure 1: Notch signaling in the liver during obesity.

Marina Corral Spence

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  1. Michael P. Czech is at the Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA.,

    Michael P Czech

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  1. Michael P Czech
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Correspondence to Michael P Czech.

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Czech, M. Obesity Notches up fatty liver. Nat Med 19, 969–971 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3293

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