Objective      To investigate the effect of microrchidia family CW-type zinc finger 2 (MORC2) over-expression on steatosis of immortalized hepatocyte line L02 and explore the potential mechanism.       Methods      MORC2 was over-expressed in L02 hepatocytes by lentivirus transfection

and then examined by qRT-PCR and Western blotting. Intracellular triglyceride (TG) was measured to evaluate cellular steatosis. A microarray chip was adopted to analyze related signaling pathways in the MORC2 over-expression process. Over-expression of p53 in the MORC2-over-expressed L02 hepatocytes was confirmed by qRT-PCR and Western blotting

and the effect of p53 over-expression on lipid accumulation was observed by measuring TG.       Results      Both qRT-PCR and Western blot data validated that MORC2 was over-expressed in the transfected L02 hepatocytes. Steatosis was significantly alleviated by MORC2 over-expression (P0.01). The microarray chip data revealed that lipometabolism-related p53 pathway was changed after MORC2 over-expression. Western blot results demonstrated that p53 protein was down-regulated after MORC2 over-expression. Moreover

over-expression of p53 partially increased steatosis in the MORC2-over-expressed L02 hepatocytes.       Conclusion      MORC2 attenuates steatosis of L02 hepatocytes partially by down-regulating p53 expression.