{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,25]],"date-time":"2026-09-25T13:16:42Z","timestamp":1790342202607,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,7]],"date-time":"2024-03-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1709769600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)","award":["RS-2023-00208339"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2023-00208339"]}]},{"name":"National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)","award":["2021R1C1C1003904"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021R1C1C1003904"]}]},{"name":"INHA UNIVERSITY Research Grant","award":["RS-2023-00208339"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2023-00208339"]}]},{"name":"INHA UNIVERSITY Research Grant","award":["2021R1C1C1003904"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021R1C1C1003904"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has emerged as a significant liver ailment attributed to factors like obesity and diabetes. While ongoing research explores treatments for NAFLD, further investigation is imperative to address this escalating health concern. NAFLD manifests as hepatic steatosis, precipitating insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. This study aims to validate the regenerative potential of chimeric fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) and Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor (HGFR) in NAFLD-afflicted liver cells. AML12, a murine hepatocyte cell line, was utilized to gauge the regenerative effects of chimeric FGF21\/HGFR expression. Polysaccharide accumulation was affirmed through Periodic acid\u2013Schiff (PAS) staining, while LDL uptake was microscopically observed with labeled LDL. The expression of FGF21\/HGFR and NAFLD markers was analyzed by mRNA analysis with RT-PCR, which showed a decreased expression in acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1 (ACC1) and sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP) cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) with increased expression of hepatocellular growth factor (HGF), hepatocellular nuclear factor 4 alpha (HNF4A), and albumin (ALB). These findings affirm the hepato-regenerative properties of chimeric FGF21\/HGFR within AML12 cells, opening novel avenues for therapeutic exploration in NAFLD.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25063092","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,7]],"date-time":"2024-03-07T08:59:37Z","timestamp":1709801977000},"page":"3092","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Regeneration of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Cells Using Chimeric FGF21\/HGFR: A Novel Therapeutic Approach"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Sung-Jun","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-7447-0152","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"So-Jung","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Tissue Regeneration Engineering (ITREN), Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Nanobiomedical Science and BK21 PLUS NBM Global Research Center for Regenerative Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1144-2552","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jeongeun","family":"Hyun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Tissue Regeneration Engineering (ITREN), Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Nanobiomedical Science and BK21 PLUS NBM Global Research Center for Regenerative Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Mechanobiology Dental Medicine Research Center, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"College of Dentistry, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"UCL Eastman-Korea Dental Medicine Innovation Centre, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hae-Won","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Tissue Regeneration Engineering (ITREN), Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Nanobiomedical Science and BK21 PLUS NBM Global Research Center for Regenerative Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Mechanobiology Dental Medicine Research Center, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"College of Dentistry, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"UCL Eastman-Korea Dental Medicine Innovation Centre, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Cell & Matter Institute, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1275-995X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jun-Hyeog","family":"Jang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"804","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(11)60813-1","article-title":"The global obesity pandemic: Shaped by global drivers and local environments","volume":"378","author":"Swinburn","year":"2011","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"73","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.28431","article-title":"Global epidemiology of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease\u2014Meta-analytic assessment of prevalence, incidence, and outcomes","volume":"64","author":"Younossi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Hepatology"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) (2016). 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