Fig 2: IL11RA is highly expressed in hepatocytes and IL11 cis-signaling is hepatotoxic.a Immunohistochemistry staining of IL11RA and IL6R in healthy human liver sections (scale bars, 20 µm, n = 1 independent experiment, due to limited amount of human liver section). b Flow cytometry forward scatter (FSC) plots of IL11RA, IL6R, and gp130 staining and fluorescence intensity plots of IL11RA and IL6R staining on hepatocytes and THP-1. c Abundance of IL11RA1 and IL6R reads in hepatocytes at baseline based on RNA-seq (left) and Ribo-seq (right) (transcripts per million, TPM) (n = 3). d, e Read coverage of d IL11RA1 and e IL6R transcripts based on RNA-seq (gray) and Ribo-seq (red) of primary human hepatocytes (n = 3). f Western blots showing ERK, JNK, and STAT3 activation status and g ALT secretion (n = 4) by hepatocytes following a dose range stimulation of either hyperIL11 or hyperIL6. h ALT levels in the supernatants of hepatocytes stimulated with hyperIL11 alone or in the presence of increasing amounts of soluble gp130 (sgp130) (n = 4). i, j Western blots of hepatocyte lysates showing i phosphorylated ERK and JNK and their respective total expression in response to hyperIL11 stimulation alone or with sgp130 and j phospho-STAT3 and total STAT3 in response to hyperIL6 stimulation with and without sgp130. k Representative FSC plots of propidium Iodide (PI) staining of IL11-stimulated hepatocytes in the presence of sgp130 or soluble IL11RA (sIL11RA). l Western blots showing phospho-ERK, phospho-JNK, cleaved caspase-3, and their respective total expression, NOX4, and GAPDH in hepatocytes in response to IL11 stimulation alone or in the presence of sgp130 or sIL11RA. i, j, l Representative data of n = 2 independent experiments. b–l Primary human hepatocytes; f–l 24 h stimulation; hyperIL11, hyperIL6, IL11 (20 ng/ml), sgp130, sIL11RA (1 µg/ml). c, g, h Data are shown as box-and-whisker with median (middle line), 25th–75th percentiles (box), and min–max values (whiskers). g, h One-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s correction. Source data are provided as a Source data file.

Fig 3: Hepatocyte-specific inhibition of IL11 cis-signaling protects mice against HFMCD diet-induced NASH.a Schematic of HFMCD feeding regimen for AAV8-Alb-Cre injected Il11ra1loxP/loxP (conditional knockout; CKO) mice for experiments shown in (b–k). Il11ra1loxP/loxP mice were intravenously injected with either AAV8-Alb-Null or AAV8-Alb-Cre to delete Il11ra1 specifically in hepatocytes 3 weeks prior to the start of HFMCD diet. b Western blots of hepatic IL11RA and GAPDH (n = 3 mice/group). c Body weight (shown as a percentage (%) of initial body weight). d Representative gross anatomy, H&E-stained (scale bars, 50 µm), and Masson’s Trichrome (scale bars, 100 µm) images of livers. Representative dataset from n = 5 mice/group is shown for gross anatomy; representative dataset from n = 4 mice/group is shown for H&E-stained and Masson’s Trichrome images. e Hepatic triglycerides content. f Serum ALT levels. g Serum AST levels. h Hepatic GSH content. i Hepatic collagen levels. j Heatmap showing hepatic mRNA expression of pro-inflammatory markers (Tnfa, Ccl2, Ccl5) and fibrotic markers (Col1a1, Col1a2, Col3a1, Acta2). Values are shown in Supplementary Fig. 8c and d. k Western blots showing hepatic ERK and JNK activation status (n = 3 mice/group). c, e–j NCD (n = 5 mice/group), HFMCD (n = 6 mice/group). c Data are shown as mean ± SD, two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s correction, statistical significance (P values) are shown for comparison between WT HFMCD and CKO HFMCD; e–i data are shown as box-and-whisker with median (middle line), 25th–75th percentiles (box), and min–max values (whiskers); two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s correction. Source data are provided as a Source data file.

Fig 4: Hepatocyte-specific IL11 cis-signaling but not IL11 trans-signaling drives steatohepatitis in mice on WDF.a Schematic showing WDF feeding regimen of Il11ra1+/+ (WT) and Il11ra1-/- (KO) mice for experiments shown in (b–n). AAV8-Alb-Null, AAV8-Alb-mbIl11ra1 (full-length membrane-bound Il11ra1), and AAV8-Alb-sIl11ra1 (soluble form of Il11ra1)-injected KO mice were given 16 weeks of WDF feeding, three weeks following virus administration. b Western blots showing hepatic levels of IL11RA and GAPDH (n = 2 mice/group). c Representative gross anatomy, H&E-stained (scale bars, 50 µm) and Masson’s Trichrome (scale bars, 100 µm) images of livers. Representative dataset from n = 6 mice/group is shown for gross anatomy; representative dataset from n = 4 mice/group is shown for H&E-stained and Masson’s Trichrome images. d Liver weight. e Hepatic triglycerides content. f Serum ALT levels. g Serum AST levels. h Hepatic GSH content. i Hepatic collagen content. j Hepatic pro-inflammatory and fibrotic genes expression heatmap (values are shown in Supplementary Fig. 10c and d). k Western blots showing activation status of hepatic ERK and JNK (n = 2 mice/group). l Fasting blood glucose levels. m Serum triglycerides levels. n Serum cholesterol levels. d–j, l–n n = 6 mice/group. d–i, l–n Data are shown as box-and-whisker with median (middle line), 25th–75th percentiles (box), and min–max values (whiskers); one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s correction. Source data are provided as a Source data file.

Fig 5: Hepatocyte-specific inhibition of IL11 cis-signaling protects mice against WDF-induced obesity and NASH.a Schematic of WDF-fed control and CKO mice for data shown in (b–m). Three weeks following AAV8-Alb-Null or AAV8-Alb-Cre virus injection, CKO mice were fed WDF for 16 weeks. b Western blots showing hepatic levels of IL11RA and GAPDH (n = 3 mice/group). c Body weight (shown as a percentage (%) of initial body weight). d Fat mass. e Representative gross anatomy, H&E-stained (scale bars, 50 µm), and Masson’s Trichrome (scale bars, 100 µm) images of livers. Representative dataset from n = 5/group is shown for gross anatomy; representative dataset from n = 4 mice/group is shown for H&E-stained and Masson’s Trichrome images. f Hepatic triglycerides content. g Liver weight. h Serum ALT levels. i Serum AST levels. j Hepatic GSH content. k Hepatic collagen levels. l Hepatic pro-inflammatory and fibrotic genes expression on heatmap (values are shown in Supplementary Fig. 9c and d). m Western blots showing activation status of hepatic ERK and JNK (n = 3 mice/group). c, d, f–l n = 5 mice/group. c, d Data are shown as mean ± SD, two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s correction, statistical significance (P values) are shown for comparison between WT WDF and CKO WDF; f–k data are shown as box-and-whisker with median (middle line), 25th–75th percentiles (box), and min–max values (whiskers); two-way ANOVA with Tukey’s correction. Source data are provided as a Source data file.