Effect of the Hepatocyte-Specific Deletion of SND1 in Mice on the Liver Insulin Resistance and Acute Liver Failure

Background: The multifunctional protein SND1 was reported to be involved in a variety of biological processes, such as cell cycle, proliferation or lipogenesis. We previously proposed that global-expressed SND1 in vivo is likely to be a key regulator for ameliorating HFD-induced hepatic steatosis and systemic insulin resistance. Herein, we are very interested in investigating further whether the hepatocyte-specific deletion of SND1 affects the insulin resistance or acute liver failure (ALF) of mice.Methods: By using Cre-loxP technique, we constructed conditional knockout (LKO) mice of SND1 driven by albumin in hepatocytes and analyze the changes of glucose homeostasis, cholesterol level, hepatic steatosis and hepatic failure under the treatment of high-fat diet (HFD) or upon the simulation of Lipopolysaccharide/galactosamine (LPS/GalN).Results: No difference for the body weight, liver weight, and cholesterol level was detected. Furthermore, we did not observe the alteration of glucose homeostasis in SND1 hepatic knockout mice on either chow diet or high-fat diet. Besides, hepatocyte-specific deletion of SND1 failed to influence the hepatic failure of mice induced by LPS/GalN.Conclusions: These findings suggest that hepatic SND1, independently, is insufficient for changing glucose homeostasis, hepatic lipid accumulation and inflammation. The synergistic action of multiple organs may contribute to the role of SND1 in insulin sensitivity or inflammatory response.