Background/Aims Excessive lipid accumulation in hepatocytes is a critical cause of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) progression. Ankyrin repeat and SOCS box protein 3 (ASB3) is an E3 ubiquitin ligase that mediates diverse disease processes; however, the direct substrates of ASB3 in lipid metabolism and its role in MASLD remain unexplored.
Methods We generated ASB3 knockout mice fed a high-fat diet to induce MASLD. Oxygen consumption and fatty acid oxidation (FAO) were used to assess lipid metabolism. LC-MS/MS and IP were used to verify the ASB3 target protein. Correlation analysis was conducted on the cohort of MASLD patients vs. the control group.
Results Loss of the ASB3 E3 ubiquitin ligase in hepatocytes strengthens mitochondrial FAO, thereby influencing energy consumption to decrease triglyceride storage and lipid accumulation. Quantitative lysine ubiquitination proteomics revealed that ASB3 directly mediated the ubiquitin levels at two sites (K180 and K639) in carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A (CPT1A), a rate-limiting enzyme of FAO, to induce CPT1A degradation. Moreover, both constitutive and hepatocyte-specific ASB3 knockout enhance FAO and delay lipid accumulation, liver steatosis, and MASLD progression in a CPT1A-dependent manner. Hepatic ASB3 deficiency also delays fibrosis in MASLD. Analysis of public databases and liver tissue samples from MASLD patients revealed that ASB3 was highly expressed in MASLD patients and was negatively correlated with CPT1A.
Conclusions Our study reveals the key roles of ASB3 in the development of MASLD and suggests a novel therapeutic potential for MASLD.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Targeting the ASB3-CPT1A axis—a new player in combating metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: Editorial on “Hepatocytic ankyrin repeat and SOCS box protein 3 deficiency alleviates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver diseas Yueying Yang, Ying Yang, Yan Lu Clinical and Molecular Hepatology.2026; 32(2): 957. CrossRef
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Correspondence to editorial 1 on “Hepatocytic ankyrin repeat and SOCS box protein 3 deficiency alleviates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease by decreasing ubiquitin-mediated carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A” Yuli Lin, Dongqin Yang, Zhihao Wu, Ming Guan, Chunhua Song Clinical and Molecular Hepatology.2026; 32(3): e339. CrossRef
Correspondence to editorial 2 on “Hepatocytic ankyrin repeat and SOCS box protein 3 deficiency alleviates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease by decreasing ubiquitin-mediated carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A” Dongqin Yang, Yuli Lin, Chunhua Song, Ming Guan Clinical and Molecular Hepatology.2026; 32(3): e342. CrossRef
ASB3 degrades the gateway to β-oxidation: Editorial on “Hepatocytic ankyrin repeat and SOCS box protein 3 deficiency alleviates metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease by decreasing ubiquitin-mediated carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1A” Ho Jae Ryu, Ji Su Han, Ja Hyun Koo Clinical and Molecular Hepatology.2026; 32(3): 1379. CrossRef
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ASB3 limits adipocyte thermogenesis and energy expenditure through p62 ubiquitination Mengyu Shi, Haoye Liu, Zhihao Wu, Linlin Huang, Chunhua Song, Yuli Lin, Dongqin Yang Metabolism.2026; 184: 156756. CrossRef
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