DDIT3 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: Furthermore, proapoptotic molecules such as eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78), inositol-requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α), ER-resident PKR-like eIF2α kinase (PERK), C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), cleaved Caspase-3, and JNK were detected and JNK activation and CHOP expression via ER stress-mediated proapoptotic cascades occurred prior to Caspase-3 activation in high-fat diet-fed-induced NAFLD mice compared with rats that were fed a standard chow diet [20, 21].