a, b Cmip expression in AML12 cells. AML12 cells were treated with oleic acid and palmitic acid (OPA) for 6, 12, or 24 h; total RNA was extracted; and mRNA expression of Cmip was measured by qRT‒PCR (a). The values presented are the means ± SDs of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01 (right panel); Student’s t-test. The protein contents of Cmip were measured 12 and 24 h after OPA treatment in AML12 cells (left panel) and quantified through normalization to the content of β-actin (b). *p < 0.05; Student’s t-test. c, d The effect of Cmip knockdown on Pparγ and Cd36 expression. Two sets of Cmip siRNA were transiently transfected into AML12 cells, total RNA was extracted, and the mRNA expression levels of Pparγ (c, left panel), Ccdn1 (c, right panel), and Cd36 (d) were measured by qRT‒PCR. The values presented are the means ± SDs of three independent experiments. ***p < 0.001; Student’s t-test. e Correlation analysis based on data from public databases. Using the RNA-seq data of liver tissues from the Genotype-Tissue Expression database (n = 110), the relative influence between Cmip and Pparγ expression levels (left panel) and between Cmip and Cd36 expression levels (right panel) was analyzed via Pearson’s correlation analysis. f The effect of Tet2 knockdown on Cd36 expression. Two sets of Tet2 siRNA were transiently transfected into AML12 cells, total RNA was extracted, and the mRNA expression of Cd36 was measured by qRT‒PCR. The values presented are the means ± SDs of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05 and ***p < 0.001; Student’s t-test. g The effect of the DNMT inhibitor SGI-1027 on Pparγ and Cd36 expression. Cells were treated with SGI-1027 at the indicated concentrations for 24 h. mRNA expression of Pparγ (left panel) and Cd36 (right panel) was measured by qRT‒PCR. The values presented are the means ± SDs of three independent experiments. ***p < 0.001; Student’s t-test. h The effect of Cmip knockdown on fatty acid uptake into AML12 cells. **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001; Student’s t-test. i The effect of Cd36 overexpression under Cmip knockdown conditions. The Cd36 plasmid was transiently transfected following siCmip transfection. After 12 h, OPA was added, and the cells were incubated for an additional 12 h. The rate of fatty acid uptake into AML12 cells was measured. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001; Student’s t-test.