Fig. 3.

TRIM21 alleviated hepatic steatosis and dyslipidemia in obese diabetic mice. Male db/db mice (eight weeks old) were injected with Ad-GFP or Ad-TRIM21 via tail vein injection. a Representative micrographs showed hepatic steatosis in HE and Oil Red O staining sections from the adenovirus-injected db/db mice at day 7 after injection. Scale bar, 100 μm. b–d Liver TG levels (b), serum TG levels (c), and relative liver weight (d) were measured as indicated. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 vs. Ad-GFP group. n = 5 mice for each group. e–g C57BL/6J mice fed HFD for 12 weeks were injected with Ad-GFP or Ad-TRIM21 via tail vein injection. Liver TG levels (e), serum TG levels (f), and liver weight (g) were measured as indicated. ****P < 0.0001 vs. Ad-GFP group. n = 7 mice for each group. h, i Mouse primary hepatocytes were infected with Ad-GFP or Ad-TRIM21 for 24 h, then treated with palmitic acid (PA) and oleic acid (OA) for another 24 h. PA, 0.25 mM. OA, 0.5 mM. Intracellular TG levels (h) and intracellular TC levels (i) were measured at the indicated treatment. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. n = 3 for each group. j Mouse primary hepatocytes were infected with Ad-GFP or Ad-TRIM21 for 24 h, then treated with dexamethasone (2 mM) for another 24 h. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. n = 3 for each group. k Serum ALT level. **P < 0.01. n = 5 mice for each group. l Serum AST level. **P < 0.01. n = 5 mice for each group. Data are presented as mean ± SEM