Projects and Funding
With HepatoSCRIPT, we will generate the first integrated genetic, transcriptomic, proteomic, immune, and metabolic dataset at the single-cell level to enable the stratification of patients with MASH into HCC risk subgroups in the future. This represents a huge step forward for the clinic, improving our ability to treat early obesity-induced HCC.
Moreover, our findings may also impact the detection and diagnosis of alcohol- and hepatic-induced HCC in patients with MASH. By examining the functionality of different pathways, cells, and metabolites in in vitro and in vivo models and understanding the cross-talk between these layers, we will determine which of these elements may be therapeutically relevant both for the prevention of progression to HCC and for treating patients who have already progressed to HCC. Thus, we will open a new area of research in the field, with the potential to answer many remaining questions regarding the disease. Changes induced by obesity and inflammation can affect the pathways in the liver and immune cells associated with other cancers. Thus, our future findings can go beyond HCC and have wide-ranging implications in the understanding of pathogenic cell signalling and metabolism-associated cancer development.
The consortium has access to a unique set of liver resections and gathers PIs and collaborators who are established experts in the proposed methodologies. While interconnected and integrated, each work package also has independent elements, ensuring that they can be initiated from the onset of the project, without relying on data obtained after the successful completion of another work package. This project brings together world-recognized experts aiming to study the mechanisms of obesity-associated HCC at the single-cell level. For this, we assembled a team of experts who already collaborate in multicenter projects. The consortium will establish Belgium as a leading country in HCC-related metabolism, signalling, and inflammation research on an international basis.