Fig. 5.

Western blot and densitometry analysis showed increased expression of proapoptotic endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response marker CHOP (A) in LoxTB MC4R−/− mice kidneys with subtle, but not statistically significant, changes in the expression of other ER stress marker XBP-1 (spliced form; B) in LoxTB MC4R−/− and ob/ob mice kidneys with respect to their corresponding lean WT controls. Representative Western blots (n = 3) of ER stress markers [CHOP (A) and XBP-1 (B)] with β-actin used as loading control are shown at the top of each panel, and densitometry values (normalized to β-actin) of ER stress markers are shown at the bottom. Values are means ± SE. †P < 0.05 compared with WT-LoxTB.