Fig 1. INS-4 acts downstream of SMA-3 and regulates lipid metabolism.

A) Images of animals expressing ins-4p::GFP. Control animals displayed ins-4p::GFP in head neurons, with faint expression in the hypodermis. Upon loss of sma-3, ins-4p::GFP expression is significantly increased in the hypodermis. Images taken at 200X, camera settings were kept constant between all strains. B) Relative quantification of ins-4 mRNA expression in sma-3 mutants compared to control animals via RT-PCR. C) Loss of ins-4 results in an increase in intestinal lipid stores via Oil Red O staining. Animals were grown at 20°C and stained at the L4 larval stage. Quantification was done for equivalent regions of the intestine just posterior to the pharynx. For all graphs, asterisks across the bottom denote significance compared to Control, n.s. not significant, * p value < 0.05, ** p value < 0.01, *** p value <0 .001, solid lines denote the median, dashed lines denote quartiles.