The DOI matches its Crossref record; 55 of the 56 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
CD36 promotes de novo lipogenesis in hepatocytes through INSIG2-dependent SREBP1 processing
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: Enhanced de novo lipogenesis (DNL) in hepatocytes is a major contributor to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Fatty acid translocase (FAT/CD36) is involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD through facilitating free fatty acids uptake. Here, we explored the effects of CD36 on DNL and elucidated the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: We generated hepatocyte-specific CD36 knockout (CD36LKO) mice to study in vivo effects of CD36 on DNL under high-fat diet (HFD). Lipid deposition and DNL were analyzed in primary hepatocytes isolated from CD36LKO mice or HepG2 cells with CD36 overexpression. RNA sequence, co-immunoprecipitation, and proximity ligation assay were carried out to determine its role in regulating DNL. RESULTS: Hepatic CD36 expression was upregulated in NAFLD mice and patients, and CD36LKO mice exhibited attenuated HFD-induced hepatic steatosis and insulin resistance. We identified hepatocyte CD36 as a key regulator for DNL in the liver. Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (SREBP1) and its downstream lipogenic enzymes such as FASN, ACCα, and ACLY were significantly downregulated in the liver of HFD-fed CD36LKO mice, whereas overexpression CD36 stimulated insulin-mediated DNL and lipid droplet formation in vitro. Mechanistically, CD36 was activated by insulin and formed a complex with insulin-induced gene-2 (INSIG2) that disrupts the interaction between SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP) and INSIG2, thereby leading to the translocation of SREBP1 from ER to Golgi for processing. Furthermore, treatment with 25-hydroxycholesterol or betulin molecules shown to enhance SCAP-INSIG interaction, reversed the effects of CD36 on SREBP1 cleavage. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings identify a previously unsuspected role of CD36 in the regulation of hepatic lipogenic program through mediating SREBP1 processing by INSIG2, providing additional evidence for targeting CD36 in NAFLD.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Figures



![Figure 3 Decreased hepatic lipogenesis in LKO mice. RNA sequence analysis of the livers from fl/fl and LKO mice under 16-week-HFD (n = 3). A: Top 20 biological process gene ontology (GO) terms enriched by differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in fl/fl and LKO mice. The DEGs were selected with a criterion at adjusted P-value < 0.05. B: The protein–protein interactions (PPI) network analysis of genes including in top 20 BP GO terms. The top 15 hub genes were selected and visualized with Cytoscape software. The size and color of map nodes were determined by degree score. C: Heatmap representation of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism. The gradual color ranged from pink to blue represented the mRNA expression changing from up-regulation to down-regulation. D: Volcano plot comparison of genes in fl/fl versus LKO mice, showing the distribution of significance [-log10 (P adjust value)] vs. fold change (FC) [log2 (FC)] for all genes. The red points represented up-regulated genes (log2 (FC) > 1 and P adjust value < 0.05, 222 genes) and green points represented down-regulated genes (log2 (FC) < −1 and P adjust value < 0.05, 222genes), while gray points indicated genes without significant differential expression (|log2 (FC) | < 1 or a P adjust value > 0.05). E–G: The liver mRNA levels of lipogenic genes (E), inflammatory genes (F), and fatty acid β-oxidation genes (G) determined by Q-PCR (n = 3). H: Hepatic expression of the SREBP1 and downstream lipogenic enzymes determined by immunoblotting. Quantitation of protein levels was shown in the right (n = 3). ∗P < 0.05 vs. fl/fl mice.](/paper-figures/26cd92af2b5a4688903dfe3552b6f578/cd36-promotes-de-novo-lipogenesis-in-hepatocytes-through-insig2-dependent-srebp1-figure-3.jpg)







Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“which may influence metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD)48”
From Spatial transcriptomics of healthy and fibrotic human liver at single-cell resolution (2025) · cites this paper as [48]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Mechanisms of NAFLD development and therapeutic strategies
Friedman, S. L., Neuschwander-Tetri, B. A., Rinella, M., & Sanyal, A. J. (2018) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41591-018-0104-9 · Cited by 4,354
Donnelly, K. L., Smith, C. I., Schwarzenberg, S. J., Jessurun, J., Boldt, M. D., & Parks, E. J. (2005) · Journal of Clinical Investigation · doi:10.1172/jci23621 · Cited by 3,604
Mechanisms and disease consequences of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
Loomba, R., Friedman, S. L., & Shulman, G. I. (2021) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.015 · Cited by 2,002
Protein Sensors for Membrane Sterols
Goldstein, J. L., DeBose-Boyd, R. A., & Brown, M. S. (2006) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2005.12.022 · Cited by 1,517
SREBP-regulated lipid metabolism: convergent physiology - divergent pathophysiology
Shimano, H., & Sato, R. (2017) · Nature Reviews Endocrinology · doi:10.1038/nrendo.2017.91 · Cited by 1,174
Lambert, J. E., Ramos–Roman, M. A., Browning, J. D., & Parks, E. J. (2014) · Gastroenterology · doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2013.11.049 · Cited by 1,069 · cited 1×
“Human isotope-labeling studies demonstrated a threefold increase of DNL contributed to hepatic TG accumulation in patients with NAFLD than those without [5].”
BackgroundGlatz, J. F. C., Luiken, J. J. F. P., & Bonen, A. (2010) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.00003.2009 · Cited by 776
A Null Mutation in Murine CD36 Reveals an Important Role in Fatty Acid and Lipoprotein Metabolism
Febbraio, M., Abumrad, N. A., Hajjar, D. P., Sharma, K., Cheng, W., Pearce, S. F. A., & Silverstein, R. L. (1999) · Journal of Biological Chemistry · doi:10.1074/jbc.274.27.19055 · Cited by 769
Role of Dietary Fructose and Hepatic De Novo Lipogenesis in Fatty Liver Disease
Softic, S., Cohen, D. E., & Kahn, C. R. (2016) · Digestive Diseases and Sciences · doi:10.1007/s10620-016-4054-0 · Cited by 709
Hyperlipidemic Effects of Dietary Saturated Fats Mediated through PGC-1β Coactivation of SREBP
Lin, J. D., Yang, R., Tarr, P. T., Wu, P., Handschin, C., Li, S., Yang, W., Pei, L., Uldry, M., Tontonoz, P., et al. (2005) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2004.11.043 · Cited by 626
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Zhang, 2020, The CC genotype of insulin-induced gene 2 rs7566605 is a protective factor of hypercholesteremia susceptible to mild cognitive impairment, especially to the executive function of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, BioMed Research International, 2020
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–210 of 210
Glycosylation modification: a trigger for obesity and its complications?
Wang, C. C., Yi, W., Li, X., et al. (2026) · Molecular Medicine · doi:10.1186/s10020-026-01565-7
Cholesterol metabolism implications for cancer and therapy
Lin, L., Song, P., Xie, W., & Guo, J. (2026) · The Innovation Nutrition · doi:10.59717/j.xinn-nutri.2026.100025
Guo, T., Yang, Y., Chen, F., et al. (2026) · Veterinary Sciences · doi:10.3390/vetsci13080745
Li, S., Zeng, Q., Liu, Y., Li, Y., Wang, N., Zheng, R., Zuo, B., Zhou, Y., & 蒋思文 (2026) · The FASEB Journal · doi:10.1096/fj.202600780rr
Self-citationLi, X., Yang, K., Liang, X., Qi, F., & Lv, Y. (2026) · Precision medicine and engineering. · doi:10.1016/j.preme.2026.100085
Schneider, N., Frank, T., Müller, A., et al. (2026) · Archive of International Journal of Cancer and Allied Science · doi:10.51847/1q9tfbqgaj
Li, X., Li, M., Wang, Y., Yue, L., & Ma, P. (2026) · Advanced Chinese Medicine · doi:10.2738/acm.2026.0013
Cross-generational characterization of paternal Low Protein Diet effects in micePreprint
Santilli, F., Riposati, M., Castaldi, L., Drotleff, B., & Bošković, A. (2026) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.64898/2026.10.16.759665
Zhang, L., Xie, Y., Liu, Y., Tang, M., & Xing, S. (2026) · Lipids · doi:10.1002/lipd.70089
Feng, M., Huang, X., Wang, C., et al. (2026) · Oncogene · doi:10.1038/s41388-026-04021-2
Metadata
- Authors
- Zeng, H., Qin, H., Liao, M., Zheng, E., Luo, X., Xiao, A., Li, Y., Chen, L., Wei, L., Zhao, L., Ruan, X. Z., Yang, P., & Chen, Y.
- Affiliations
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (CN)
- The Royal Free Hospital (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Yang, Ping
- Chen, Yaxi
- Venue
- Molecular Metabolism
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-03
- Volume
- 57
- Pages
- 101428
- ISSN
- 2212-8778 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8810570
- OpenAlex
- W4200530196
- Semantic Scholar
- 9eab22cddc8a889e5bc861e52f4c9cca8b021238
- Cited by
- 211
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 68 · 2024: 61 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 12
- FWCI
- 19.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Molecular Metabolism (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (20190120, 2018YFC1312700, 81873569, 32030054, cstc2020jcyj, D20028)
- Chongqing Medical University (D20028)
- Chongqing Research Program of Basic Research and Frontier Technology (cstc2020jcyj-msxmX0205)
- Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project (D20028)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Lipids, and Metabolism
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis
- Keywords
- CD36, de novo lipogenesis, hepatocytes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, INSIG2, SREBP1, SCAP, insulin signaling, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, lipid droplet formation, 25-hydroxycholesterol, betulin, free fatty acid uptake, high-fat diet
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Humans, Membrane Proteins, CD36 Antigens, Hepatocytes, Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins, Lipogenesis, Mice, Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review