Nuclear prohibitin 1 depletion drives alcohol-associated liver injury and sensitization to colon cancer liver metastasis

Abstract

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is associated with higher incidence of colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM); prohibitin 1 (PHB1) defends against CRLM yet its role in ALD and ALD-CRLM is poorly understood and was investigated here. In human, murine, and in vitro ALD models, cytosolic and nuclear PHB1 were depleted, whereas mitochondrial PHB1 was preserved despite a loss in mitochondrial mass. Nuclear PHB1 loss was driven by CRM1-mediated export, and blocking this interaction with a PHB1 nuclear export signal (NES) peptide retained nuclear PHB1, ameliorating both ALD and ALD-CRLM. PHB1 NES prevented depletion of nuclear methionine adenosyltransferase α1, oxidative stress, and induction of matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP-7) and multiple oncogenes. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing of NIAAA diet-fed mouse livers and spatial transcriptomics of ALD-CRLM mice livers revealed that PHB1 NES treatment mitigated alcohol-induced metabolic and oncogenic stress, attenuated pro-inflammation and pro-fibrogenic responses, remodeled immunosuppressive microenvironment and contributed to overall hepatoprotection. These findings identify nuclear PHB1 depletion as a driver and a promising therapeutic target in ALD and ALD-CRLM.