USP14 and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: In addition, to explore the potential role of USP14 in the progression of human NAFLD, we downloaded RNA-seq data (GSE163211) from the GEO database for normal liver histology (NLH, n = 76), steatosis only (steatosis, n = 88), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis without fibrosis (NASH F0, n = 72), and NASH with fibrosis stages 1–4 (NASH F1-F4, n = 82).