En masse organoid phenotyping informs metabolic-associated to NASH

Genotype-phenotype associations for common diseases are often compounded by pleiotropy and metabolic state. Here, we devised a pooled human organoid-panel of steatohepatitis to investigate the impact of meta-bolic status on genotype-phenotype association. En masse population-based phenotypic analysis under in-sulin insensitive conditions predicted key non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-genetic factors including the glucokinase regulatory protein (GCKR)-rs1260326:C>T. Analysis of NASH clinical cohorts revealed that GCKR-rs1260326-T allele elevates disease severity only under diabetic state but protects from fibrosis under non-diabetic states. Transcriptomic, metabolomic, and pharmacological analyses indicate significant mito-chondrial dysfunction incurred by GCKR-rs1260326, which was not reversed with metformin. Uncoupling oxidative mechanisms mitigated mitochondrial dysfunction and permitted adaptation to increased fatty acid supply while protecting against oxidant stress, forming a basis for future therapeutic approaches for dia-betic NASH. Thus, in-a-dishgenotype-phenotype association strategies disentangle the opposing roles of metabolic-associated gene variant functions and offer a rich mechanistic, diagnostic, and therapeutic infer-ence toolbox toward precision hepatology.

Automated summary

The study found that the gene GCKR-rs1260326 has different effects on the disease under different metabolic states, providing new insights for future therapeutic approaches for diabetic NASH.