. Chronic Effects of FGF1ΔHBS-FGF21C-tail on adipose remodeling in db/db mice
Adipose tissues were isolated from db/db mice treated with FGF1ΔHBS-FGF21C-tail or FGF21 for 24 days (0.5 mg/kg body weight); corresponding tissues from db/db mice treated with buffer alone (PBS) and their littermates (db/m) served as controls. (a) Epididymal fat weight of db/db mice treated with FGF1ΔHBS-FGF21C-tail or FGF21WT. Data are presented as mean +/- SEM (n = 6). ***p<0.001 vs db/db; ##p<0.01 vs FGF21WT treatment, unpaired t-test. (b,c) Images of WAT (b) and brown adipose tissue (BAT) (c) sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Data are representative of 6 mice from each group. Scale bar, 100 µm. Right hand panels: relative adipocyte sizes calculated from H&E stained sections (Relative sizes=unit area/ the cell number per unit area). Data are presented as mean +/- SEM (n = 6). **p<0.01, ***p<0.01 vs db/db; #p<0.05, ##p<0.01 vs FGF21WT treatment, unpaired t-test. (d,e) Western blot analysis for Epi-WAT AKT phosphorylation and its quantitation by image J. Data are presented as mean +/- SEM (n = 6). *p<0.05, ***p<0.001 vs db/db; ##p<0.01 vs FGF21WT treatment, unpaired t-test. (f,g) Enhanced translocation of GLUT1 in Epi-WAT as measured by immunofluorescence staining (f) and quantified by image J (g). Data are representative of 6 mice from each group; ***p<0.001 vs db/db; ###p<0.001 vs FGF21WT treatment, unpaired t-test. Scale bar, 100 μm. (h,i) Real-time quantitative PCR analysis of mRNAs encoding PGC-1α (h) and UCP-1 (i) in subcutaneous adipose tissue. Data are presented as mean +/- SEM (n = 6). ***p<0.001 vs db/db; ##p<0.01, ###p<0.001 vs FGF21WT treatment, unpaired t-test.