Read Time: A particular type of dendritic cell is responsible for the tissue damage that occurs in non-alcoholic steatohepatits (NASH) in mice and humans. The dendritic cells cause aggressive, proinflammatory behavior in T cells, as now discovered by researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in collaboration with colleagues from Israeli research institutes. Blocking these dendritic cells alleviates symptoms in mice. This type of approach might also prevent the development of serious liver damage in NASH patients. Obesity is extremely widespread in the Western world, and 90 percent of those affected show signs of fatty degeneration of the liver. If they maintain an unhealthy lifestyle over a long period (high-calorie diet, sedentary lifestyle), liver cell death occurs in around a fifth of these people, resulting in inflammation of the liver, referred to as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NASH can lead to liver fibrosis, life-threatening liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.