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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Jul 6.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Metab. 2011 Jul 6;14(1):67–79. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2011.04.013

Figure 6. Elevated TGF-β1 level correlates with adiposity and exogenous TGF-β1 suppresses BAT/mitochondrial markers in WAT.

Figure 6

a, b, Plasma TGF-β1 levels in human subjects significantly correlate positively with BM1 (a) and increased TGF-β1 levels are seen in overweight and obese subjects, compared to that seen in subjects with normal BMI (b). c, d, Levels of active TGF-β1 were determined by ELISA in serum samples from Lepob/ob mice as a function of their weight gain (c) and in C57Bl/6J mice fed either a RD (control) or HFD for 8 weeks (d). e, Elevated active TGF-β1 (green) staining in perilipin (red) expressing white adipocytes in WAT from Lepob/ob and DIO mice, but not in WAT derived from regular diet fed normal mice (Control). DAPI staining identifies nuclei. f, Elevated phosphorylated Smad3 in WAT protein extracts from Lepob/ob (n=4) and DIO (n=4) mice, but not in WAT derived from regular diet fed normal mice (Con; n=3). Total Smad3 levels are shown in bottom panel. g–i, Compared to vehicle PBS injected mice (open bars), mice injected with TGF-β1 (closed red bars) exhibit elevated WAT-specific transcripts (g) and reduced BAT-specific (h) and mitochondrial-specific transcripts (i). *p < 0.05; **, p< 0.005; ***, p<0.001.