Fig. 4.
Pregnancy-related changes in adipose tissue Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) network. Genes implicated in TLR4 signaling pathways were selected from the lists in Table 2. A: mRNA levels were measured by quantitative RT-PCR analysis of adipose tissue from early pregnancy. Real-time threshold cycle (CT) values were normalized to actin and expressed in fold change vs. pregravid. B: immnublot longitudinal analysis of TLR4 protein content in adipose tissue at P, E, and L. C: diagram of the molecular pathways related to TLR4 activation identified with gene ontology analysis. Statistical significance: *P < 0.05. Gray bars, pregravid; black bars, early pregnancy; n = 6 independent determinations. LPS, lipopolysaccharide; LBP, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein; FFA, free fatty acid; TRAM, TRIF-related adaptor protein; IKBKB, inhibitor of κ-light polypeptide gene enhancer.