Figure 2.

Adipocyte-specific Ube2i deletion impairs WAT expansion in male and female mice. (A) Body weight and (B) WAT weights (g) in combined male and female mice at 7 (n = 5–9), 30 (n = 4/group), 60 (n = 4/group), and 180 (n = 23–24/group) days of age for Ube2i^fl/fl (gray) and Ube2i^a-KO (purple) mice. Data are presented as mean +/− SEM; ∗p < 0.05. (C) Relative gene expression by qPCR in gWAT (left, yellow) and iWAT (right, cyan) from Ube2i^a-KO (purple) and Ube2i^fl/fl control (gray) mice for adipocyte maturation, lipid metabolism, inflammatory, and senescence genes represented as a heatmap of z-scores. Gray heatmap squares indicate outliers excluded based on Grubbs' test. (D) Representative H/E stained gWAT and iWAT sections from one-month-old Ube2i^a-KO and Ube2i^fl/fl control mice. Scale bar 100 μm. (E)Ube2i^a-KO and Ube2i^fl/fl control mice were weighed for up to 23 weeks in males (n = 12–14/group, mean +/− SD) and females (n = 6–8/group, mean +/− SD). (F) Assessment of fat and lean mass (% body weight (left) and in grams (right); male n = 11–15/group, female n = 5–7/group). (G) Tissue weights (% body weight; male n = 15-16/group, female n = 8/group) at necropsy. (H) Corresponding necropsy images from six-month-old Ube2i^fl/fl and Ube2i^a-KO mice. Images of excised tissues demonstrate gross morphological increases in liver size, reductions in iWAT and gWAT, and lighter coloring of liver and BAT. (E–H) Gray = Ube2i^fl/fl male and female controls, blue = male Ube2i^a-KO, red = female Ube2i^a-KO. Data are presented as mean +/− SEM; ∗p < 0.05.