Figure 3.

Perturbing glucocorticoid signaling alters lipid storage in the GFP^high population. (A) Flow cytometry showed that Dex, but not Mfp, altered the relative abundance of the three lung fibroblast (LF) populations defined by PDGFRα-GFP intensity: GFP⁻, GFP^low, and GFP^high. Mean ± SEM, n = 5 control and treated littermates from 4 litters. *P < 0.05, size of GFP^low or GFP^high component compared with control. *P < 0.05 for GFP^high, comparing Dex-treated mice with controls. (B) Effects of Mfp and Dex on the proportions of neutral lipid–containing fibroblasts (stained with LipidTox red [LTR]) within each subpopulation stratified by intensity of GFP-fluorescence. Mean ± SEM, n = 5 mice, for each treatment, from 4 separate litters. *P < 0.05 comparing Mfp-treated mice with controls. (C) Using the cells shown in B, the LTR⁺ CD45⁻ fibroblasts were gated into two populations based on the intensity of LTR fluorescence. The distribution of GFP^low and GFP^high cells in LTR^low and LTR^high populations is shown. Mean ± SEM, n = 5, same mice as in B. (D) Analysis similar to that shown in B, except that lipid droplets were identified by perilipin-2 (ADRP). Mean ± SEM, n = 5 mice, for each treatment, from 4 separate litters. *P < 0.05 comparing Mfp- or Dex-treated mice with littermate controls.