Figure 4.

Blockade of VEGF signaling sensitizes brown adipocytes to apoptosis. Differentiated brown adipocytes at d 7 were treated with 10 nM TNF-α and 10 μg/ml CHX for 6 h to induce apoptosis in the presence or absence of DC101, a VEGFR2-blocking antibody (15 μg/ml). A) Treatment with DC101 in the presence of TNF-α/CHX led to reduced survival and fewer brown adipocytes compared to TNF-α/CHX alone. **P < 0.01. B) Detection of apoptotic adipocytes by FACS analysis for Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated cleaved (activated) caspase 3 revealed increased caspase 3 activation in the presence of DC101. P = 0.067.