# Novel animal models to study miRNA-mediated alcoholic liver disease

> **NIH NIH UH3** · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · 2022 · $379,711

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This application is in response to the funding opportunity “Alcoholic hepatitis clinical and translational
network – basic and preclinical research (RFA-AA-18-006) under UH2/UH3 funding mechanism”. The
goals of our application are to stimulate innovative basic/pre-clinical research to facilitate our
understanding on the role of miR-21 in AH. We propose an exploratory yet novel approach to generate
animal model targeting cell-type specific miR-21 in the liver. As a proof of concept to support our
approach, we have generated hepatocyte specific miR-21-/- mice. Using the loss of function approach,
we found, for the first time the connection between miR-21 and lipid metabolism, that hepatocyte miR-
21-/- mice are more sensitive to hepatic steatosis after alcohol feeding. As part of UH2 phase (Yrs 1
and 2), we will further explore the phenotypes of hepatocyte miR-21-/- mice in response to alcohol
feeding and also propose to assess the feasibility of creating two new experimental animal models by
generating KC-specific and HSC-specific miR-21-/- mice, respectively. As one of the goals of this
funding mechanism, our proposal during the UH2 phase will lead to a breakthrough in the development
of animal models specifically targeting miR-21 that could have a major impact on AH field. The
success of the study during the UH2 phase will lead us to the UH3 validation phase to further explore
the in-depth mechanistic study on the role of miR-21 in AH (Yrs 3-5) and to translate the understanding
of the basic molecular mechanism by integrating our data into the AH network patient-oriented research
setting to further determine the prognostic significance of miR-21 in patients with AH (Yrs 4-5).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10430148
- **Project number:** 5UH3AA026903-05
- **Recipient organization:** INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Suthat Liangpunsakul
- **Activity code:** UH3 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $379,711
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-26 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10430148

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10430148, Novel animal models to study miRNA-mediated alcoholic liver disease (5UH3AA026903-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10430148. Licensed CC0.

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