Studies with L35 cells, derived as a single cell clone from the rat hepatoma FAO cells, have shown that the inability of these cells to assemble or secrete VLDL resulted from co-repression of MTP and L-FABP (liver fatty acid binding protein) by chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor II that occupied the DR1 promoter region of L-FABP and Mttp. Under these conditions, although VLDL secretion was blocked, the liver did not develop steatosis. Here, MTTP is linked to steatosis.