Figure 3. Fatty acid oxidation respiratory response in CD4⁺ T cells.

a) CD4⁺ T cells were isolated from age matched WT or GPAT-1 KO mice and stimulated with CD3/CD28 antibodies in complete medium. Cells were harvested, transferred to KHB assay specific media and plated onto poly-l lysine coated dishes and basal oxygen consumption rate was analyzed followed by injection of 100 µM fatty acid (palmitic acid/BSA conjugate). Each point represents the mean +/− the SEM of five individual mice in triplicate. The data in panel a) was used to calculate respiratory response following: b) Basal OCR (average of 3 time points preceding injection); c) Basal ECAR (average of 3 time points preceding injection); d) OCR for FA injected (average of 10 time points following injection);e)ECAR for FA injected (average of 6 time points following injection); f) OCR for FA injected compared to BSA only injected controls (average of 10 time points following injection); g) ECAR for FA injected compared to BSA only injected controls (average of 6 time points following injection). Each bar represents the mean +/− SEM of five individual mice, in quintuplet (for basal readings) or triplicate (for FA injected) or duplicate (for BSA only injected), and averaged across multiple time points as indicated above. * Significantly different (p<0.05). Significance was determined using two-tailed student’s T- test or one-way ANOVA and Tukeys post-hoc analysis. N=5.