Transcriptomics data of a human in vitro model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis exposed to elafibranor

The present dataset contains the transcriptomic characterization of a novel in vitro model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) as well as its transcriptomics read-outs for the evaluation of elafibranor, a potential anti-NASH compound. We report whole genome microarray data (Affymetrix HG U133 plus 2.0) of human multipotent stem cell-derived hepatic cells (hSKP-HPC) exposed to mediators of NASH. These cells were exposed to lipogenic inducers (insulin, glucose, fatty acids) and pro-inflammatory factors (IL-1β, TNF-α, TGF-β) to trigger hepatocellular responses characteristic of NASH. In addition, to evaluate the anti-NASH features of elafibranor, a dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonist that currently is under investigation as a potential anti-NASH therapeutic, was tested this in vitro set-up. This paper provides a detailed description of the microarray data as well as an indication of their value for evaluating cell signaling pathways (e.g. NFκB network) during the in vitro evaluation of anti-NASH compounds. Raw microarray data of different testing conditions were deposited as.CEL files in the Gene Expression Omnibus of NCBI with GEO Series accession number GSE126484. Further interpretation and discussion of these data can be found in the corresponding research article (DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2019.04.016) Boeckmans et al., 2019.


Data
Whole genome transcriptomics data were obtained from hSKP-HPC exposed to a cocktail of insulin, glucose, fatty acids and inflammatory cytokines, mimicking NASH in vivo. In addition, data from NASHtriggered cells concomitantly exposed to elafibranor at two different concentrations is also reported. All data were generated using Affymetrix Human Genome U133 plus 2.0. and processed using Robust Multichip Average (RMA) Express, Transcriptome Analysis Console (TAC) (version 4.0.025, Applied Biosystems) and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) (version 43605602, Qiagen). The transcriptomics data that were generated are visualized through a principle Component Analysis (PCA) plot (Fig. 1a) Human skin-derived precursors (hSKP) were differentiated towards hepatic cells (hSKP-HPC) as previously documented [2]. These cells were exposed for 24h to a cocktail of insulin (100 nM), Value of the data Human-based in vitro models can contribute to the pharmacological investigation of NASH and the development of potential anti-NASH drugs [3]. These transcriptomics data of a human skin stem cell-derived in vitro model for NASH, can be used for data mining when investigating NASH in vitro. They can also be utilized in comparative transcriptomics studies using other human-based datasets. This is the first publicly available microarray dataset evaluating elafibranor using stem cell-derived hepatic cells.
hierarchical clustering (Fig. 1b) and volcano plots (Fig. 2). Top 10 up-and down-regulated genes are listed in Table 1. A proof of principle of the use of the novel in vitro model for anti-NASH drug testing is represented in Fig. 3.
RNA extractions and microarray procedures were performed according to De Kock et al. [4]. Three biological replicates of each condition were used. The PCA plot, hierarchical cluster and volcano plots were generated using TAC (RMA-normalized). Pathway analyses were conducted using IPA for which the data were prior normalized using RMA Express. PCA and hierarchical clustering of all analyzed samples are given in Fig. 1.
Differentially regulated probesets in 'hSKP-HPC NASH' versus untriggered hSKP-HPC, which correspond to 3173 differentially expressed genes, are shown in Fig. 2 aec show the probesets that were significantly modulated in 'hSKP-HPC NASH' treated with elafibranor at 10 mM and 30 mM, respectively corresponding to 107 and 1667 differentially expressed genes.
The 10 highest up-regulated and down-regulated genes in 'hSKP-HPC NASH' versus control samples as well as the highest gene expression modulations induced by elafibranor are shown in Table 1.
To describe the value of the above described data in the elucidation of molecular mechanisms involved in the development or reduction of NASH, the activation of the NFkB pathway, which is a prototypical pro-inflammatory signaling pathway, has been investigated. As shown in Fig. 3, the NFkB complex is activated in the 'hSKP-HPC NASH' model, but becomes inhibited in the presence of elafibranor (30 mM). Further analysis of this finding as well as interpretation of the reported data in the context of evaluation of anti-NASH properties of elafibranor, can be found in the corresponding research article [1].