Table 1.

Lipophagy (associated) genes/proteins that are associated with NAFLD.

Gene/protein	Description	NAFLD association1	Type of evidence	Ref.
IRGM	Autophagy-related member of the interferon-inducible GTPase family	Positive	Human genetic association and in vitro studies	(84, 85)
Rubicon	Negative regulator of autophagosome-lysosome fusion	Positive	Human liver biopsies and mouse studies	(86)
CD36	Fatty acid transporter	Positive	Mouse and in vitro studies	(87)
FIP200	Subunit of autophagy related complex 1	Positive	Mouse study	(88)
LC3A/B-II ATG16L1	Autophagy proteins	Positive	Human liver biopsies	(89)
p62	Autophagy protein	Positive	Human liver biopsies, mouse and in vitro studies	(66, 67, 90)
LAMP3	Involved in autolysosome fusion process	Positive	Human liver biopsies, mouse and in vitro studies	(91, 92)
ATP6A1 ATP6A2 TMEM199 CCDC115	Factors in the V-ATPase complex	Negative	Human genetic association, mouse and Drosophila studies	(93–95)
VMA21	Involved in V-ATPase assembly	Negative	Human genetic association study	(96)
GNMT	Catalyzes synthesis of N-methylglycine using SAMe	Negative	Human (serum protein) association and mouse studies	(97)
ATG5 ATG7 ATG14	Autophagy proteins	Negative	Mouse and in vitro studies	(98–101)
PLD1	Catalyzes synthesis of phosphatic acid species that play a role in mTOR signaling	Negative	Mouse study	(102)
SOD1	Protects against oxidative stress	Negative	Mouse study	(103)
TFEB	Regulator of autophagy	Negative	Human liver biopsies and mouse studies	(104–106)
LC3 II/I	Autophagy protein	Negative	Rat and in vitro studies	(107, 108)

¹Positive association: higher concentrations, expression, and/or activity are associated with increased NAFLD development or occurrence. Negative association: higher concentrations, expression, and/or activity are associated with reduced NAFLD development or occurrence.