Hepatocyte specific Nampt deficient mice were generated by injecting animals bearing two floxed alleles with an AAV expressing Cre recombinase (AAV-Cre). Littermates infected with AAV-Gfp served as controls. Treatment with NR (~500 mg/kg/day) began 5 days after infection and 2 weeks prior to PHx. Analyses were performed 48 hours after PHx.
(A) Protein and mRNA expression of Nampt in livers.
(B) Photographs of regenerating livers.
(C) Left: Proliferating hepatocytes identified by EdU detected by immunofluorescence (red) and counterstained with DAPI (blue). Middle: Quantification of EdU positive hepatocytes (n=4–5/group). Left: Liver to body weight ratios.
(D) NAD content in livers before and after PHx.
(E) Mitotic index as determined by counting mitotic figures in hepatocytes under high power in H&E stained sections (n= 5–6/group).
(F) Left: Representative liver sections stained with H&E (left panels) and Oil Red O (right panels). Right: Hepatic triglyceride content.
Error bars represent S.E.M. *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001.