FIG. 1.

Reduced adiposity in Smad3-KO mice. A–E: Mean body weight (A), overall mouth-to-anus body length (B), and relative weight of subcutaneous (C), epididymal (D), and visceral (E) white adipose fat pads of 8-week-old WT and Smad3-KO mice. Values represent percentage of body weight; n= 8/group. F: Body fat content and lean mass composition analysis of WT and KO mice; n= 8/group. G: Representative hematoxylin–eosin-stained paraffin-embedded section of WT and KO epididymal WAT. Scale bars, 100 μm. H: Mean cross-sectional area of WT and KO adipocytes (n= 2,000/group). I: Mean adipocyte number in WT and KO epididymal WAT. J: Flow cytometry analysis of adipocytes (Nile Red positive) and stromal/vascular cells (Hoechst positive) in WT and KO epididymal WAT. WAT was subjected to collagenase digestion. The adipocyte layer was gently recovered and stained for 5 min with 10 μL of Nile Red staining solution (Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR). Cells positive for Nile Red were counted using LSR II Flow Cytometer System (Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, NJ). Data are represented as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. (A high-quality color representation of this figure is available in the online issue.)