Figure 5.

Overexpression of Mfn2 prevents cachexia-induced gastrocnemius muscle loss in a mouse model. (A) Representative images of the control and cachexia nude mice. (B) Body weights of the nude mice. The red arrows indicate the time at which the Mfn2 lentivirus was injected into the gastrocnemius muscles of the Mfn2-treated mice. (C) After 40 days, the mice were sacrificed and the gastrocnemius muscles of the mice were excised and weighed. (D) The protein expression of Mfn2, COX IV, Cyto C and β-actin in the mice gastrocnemius was evaluated by western blotting. (E) The relative expression levels of Mfn2, COX IV and Cyto C in the mice gastrocnemius were determined by densitometry. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 vs. the cachexia mice. Mfn2, mitofusin-2; COX-IV, cytochrome c oxidase subunit IV; Cyto C, cytochrome c.