Interestingly, gender specific differences were also observed among NAFLD patients. Disclosures: The following people

have nothing to disclose: Rohini Mehta, Katherine Doyle, Thomas Jeffers, Drew Venuto, Aybike Birerdinc, Zobair Younossi Background and aims: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a complex disorder with limited therapeutic options in patients with progressive disease. Saturated free fatty acid (FFA)-induce hepatocyte lipotoxicity, a pivotal process in NAFLD progression, by evoking a network of poorly understood adverse signaling events. The goals of our current study are to identify novel mediators and pathways responsible for hepatocyte lipoapoptosis, thereby, providing new therapeutic targets to prevent disease progression Crizotinib in NAFLD. Methods: We performed an unbiased RNAi screen using the newly developed human EXPAND shRNA library, which contains high-coverage shRNA pools. Huh7 human hepatoma cells were infected with lentivirus carrying the shRNA pools, and underwent selection, expansion and three rounds of treatment with the toxic saturated FFA palmitate. The shRNAs rendering the cells resistant to palmitate-mediated apoptosis were amplified from surviving cells and quantified using next generation sequencing. All the identified hits contain multiple

potent shRNAs targeting the same genes. Apoptosis was quantified using apoptotic nuclei count and a commercial caspase 3/7 fluorometric assay. Results: Among the Kinase/GPCR and lipid-enzyme sub-libraries (110,000 shRNAs targeting about 3500 genes) buy Small molecule library that we finished screening, a few well-characterized lipotoxicity mediators, such as Capase 7, 8, and the c-June N-terminal kinase (JNK) were identified. Beyond these previously identified toxic mediators, we identified two novel G protein-coupled receptors (GPR125 and GPR126)

mediating Ureohydrolase palmitate-induced lipoapoptosis, as well as an early signaling cascade including the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and its target v-akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 3 (AKT3). shRNA targeting the messages for these gene products significantly protects Huh7 cell from palmitate-induced lipoapoptosis. In conclusion, using an unbiased functional genomic screen, we identified several novel mediators and new pathways regulating hepato-cyte lipoapoptosis. Further progress on this study will provide new and exciting targets for NAFLD treatment and prevention. Disclosures: Gregory J. Gores – Advisory Committees or Review Panels: Delcath, Genentech, IntegraGen, Generon The following people have nothing to disclose: Steven Bronk, Ying Peng, James A. Blau, Matthew J. Hangauer, Michael McManus, Yi Guo Background: Growing evidence indicates increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in response to fatty acid accumulation in hepatocytes as a key process involved in the progression from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).