Targeting epigenetically maladapted vascular niche alleviates liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Abstract

Chronic hepatic diseases such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) suppress liver regeneration and lead to fibrosis and cirrhosis. Decoding the cellular and molecular network underlying this fibrotic maladaptation might aid in combatting NASH, a growing health challenge with no approved therapies. Here, we used multiomics analysis of human cirrhotic liver, a Western diet– and carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄)–induced minipig NASH model, and genetically modified mice to unravel the landscape of the vascular adaptome at the single-cell level, in which endothelial cells (ECs) and T_H17 cells jointly contribute to liver cirrhosis. We found that epigenetics-dependent hepatic vascular maladaptation enriches fibrogenic T_H17 cells to promote liver fibrosis in mice, minipigs, and human patients with cirrhosis. Further analysis of humans, minipigs, and mice suggested that cross-talk between histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) and DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) promoted liver EC maladaptation to promote production of angiocrine IGFBP7 and ADAMTS1 in extracellular vesicles, recruiting fibrogenic T_H17 cells to the liver. Pharmacological targeting of HDAC2 and DNMT1 alleviated fibrosis in a minipig NASH model. We conclude that epigenetically reprogrammed vascular adaptation contributes to liver fibrosis. Targeting of a vascular adaptation node might block maladaptive vascularization to promote liver regeneration in NASH.