ASCL1 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: In addition, 10x Visium spatial transcriptomic analysis (Guilliams et al., 2022) revealed that expression levels of genes associated with FFA uptake (CD36) and TG synthesis (ASCL1, MOGAT2, DGAT1, and DGAT2), GPx (GPX1 and GPX4), and fibrosis (COL1A1) were increased, while β-oxidation (PPARGC1A and CPT1A), GR (GSR), and insulin signaling (AKT1) were reduced and MOGAT1 was rarely expressed in the liver tissues of patients with NAFLD compared to those of healthy controls, particularly around the lipid-laden hepatocytes (Figure 11B).