Figure 2. Apoptosis in skeletal muscle is not elevated in dietary or genetic obesity.

Mixed gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles were excised from mice fed a low-fat (Chow) or high-fat diet (HFD) for 1 day (D1), 1 week (W1), 4 weeks (W4) or 12 weeks (W12). Tissue lysates or sections were assessed for caspase 3 activity (A), DNA fragmentation as assessed by the percentage of TUNEL positive nuclei from embedded tibialis anterior muscle (C) and the Bcl₂: Bax ratio by Western blot (E). n = 8 for both groups. Similar analysis were performed in muscles of ob/ob mice and lean littermate controls (B, D and F). n = 8 for both groups.