Figure 8.

Anti-obesity effect of taurine was partially impaired upon the specific knockdown of PGC1α in iWAT. The 6-week-old C57BL6 male mice were fed a HFD for 14 weeks before being sacrificed for analyses. During the last 5 weeks of HFD feeding, mice were administered taurine intraperitoneally (150 mg/kg per mouse, once a day) or PBS as a control. During the last 4 weeks of HFD feeding, adenoviruses harboring the shRNA against LacZ (shLacZ) or shRNA against PGC1α (shPGC1α) were injected subcutaneously adjacent to iWAT on both sides of the mice once a week. A, rectal temperature of the mice was recorded at the indicated time points after cold exposure (4 °C). B, body weights (BW) of the mice before taurine treatment and 5 weeks after taurine treatment. C, fat mass levels of the mice after 5 weeks of taurine treatment. D, plasma FFA levels of the mice after overnight fasting. E and F, glucose concentrations during an i.p. glucose tolerance test (E) or an insulin tolerance test (F). For statistical analysis, one-way analysis of variance plus Bonferroni's post hoc tests were carried out in C and D, and two-way analysis of variance plus Bonferroni's post hoc tests were carried out in A, B, E, and F. For the statistical analysis in E and F, data were compared between taurine + shLacZ group and taurine + shPGC1α group. *, p < 0.05. All values are represented as means with error bars representing S.D. n = 5 for each group.