The collaborative effort led us to discover that cavefish evolved protection from starvation-induced fatty liver through reduction of fatty acid uptake regulated by FATP2, a mechanism conserved through 400 million years of animal evolution! (5/5) www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Using comparative transcriptomics, we identified a lipid transporter SLC27A2/FATP2 to be responsible for lack of starvation-induced fatty liver in cavefish. The Hua Bai Lab (Iowa State Uni) found that inhibiting FATP2 in flies reduced fatty liver, showing FATP2's role from flies to fish. (4/5)

We have shown that zebrafish larvae develop fatty liver upon starvation. With @rohner.bsky.social Lab we asked if Mexican cavefish, an amazing model of starvation resistance, collect excess fat to survive long periods of starvation. To our surprise, they did not get fatty liver!!(3/5)

Since the discovery of Dr Williams, starvation-induced #fattyliver#fattyliver. Storage of fat in the liver is evolutionarily conserved (2/5)