A04

A04: Molecular peptidomics and metabolic signatures underlying pathological gut-liver crosstalk

The portal vein connects gut and liver, and mediators entering the portal vein have far-reaching consequences on liver function.

In this project we will:

• Characterise the effects of recently identified peptides on liver physiology and pathophysiology in molecular studies
• Validate identified peptide biomarkers of gut-liver crosstalk in independent patient cohorts and identify novel portal blood biomarkers of liver recovery
• Perform mass spectrometry imaging and initiate diagnostics development for recently identified peptides as biomarker candidates of pathological gut-liver crosstalk
• Establish a predictive model for liver hypertrophy after portal vein embolisation, based on non-invasive clinical imaging and molecular signatures

Combined, we will expand the knowledge of pathological gut-liver crosstalk based on unique molecular profiling of patients’ blood and novel non-invasive clinical functional imaging.

Figure 1: Mass spectrometric analysis of plasma samples

Figure 2: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of liver and gut

Involved scientists