Brap regulates liver morphology and hepatocyte turnover via modulation of the Hippo pathway

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2201859119
• Publication Date: 2022-04-27T18:23:15Z
• Authors: Christina Priest; Rohith T. Nagari; Lara Bideyan; Stephen D. Lee; Alexander Nguyen; Xu Xiao; Peter Tontonoz
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; 570; Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; Liver Disease; 1.1 Normal biological development and functioning; Hippo pathway; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis; 610; Biological Sciences; liver; ubiquitin ligase; Oral and gastrointestinal; 03 medical and health sciences; Liver; Hepatocytes; 2.1 Biological and endogenous factors; Hippo Signaling Pathway; Biochemistry and Cell Biology; Digestive Diseases; Signal Transduction

Significance The liver has a complex cellular architecture that is essential for its function. In this work, we show that BRAP, a ubiquitin ligase of poorly understood function, is required for maintenance of proper liver morphology. BRAP deletion in the liver causes disruption of its normal architecture and inflammation due to altered expression of genes involved in cell growth and extracellular interactions. This work sheds light on the mechanisms that maintain proper liver structure and has implications for liver disease.