The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) highlighted the work presented by Estel Solsona-Vilarrasa, pre-doctoral fellow in the “Mitochondrial Regulation of Cell Death” group, as a key oral presentation that provides insights for patient care and ongoing research. The work untitled “Cholesterol Loading in Liver Mitochondria Alters Mitochondrial Morphology, Respiration and Respiratory Supercomplexes Assembly” has been presented at the AASLD Liver Meeting held in San Francisco-California on November 9-13, and directed under the supervision of Drs. Garcia-Ruiz and Fernández-Checa. The study is part of projects SAF2015-69944-R & SAF2014-57674-R and the NIAAA/NIH P50-AA-11999 and shows that cholesterol loading in mitochondrial membranes alters mitochondria morphology, dynamics and the functional organization of Respiratory SuperComplexes Assembly, which may have clinical implications not only in liver diseases but also in neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disorders.

The Best of the Liver Meeting is a new initiative of the AASLD to showcase the best judged presentations. Out of more than 2,200 accepted abstracts this year, only 109 abstracts have been selected as this category of The Best of the Liver Meeting.