Figure 2 –

Tafazzin knockdown results in altered cardiolipin levels and protects from weight gain. A. Tafazzin mRNA levels in the heart and B. in the skeletal muscle of wildtype and tafazzin knockdown mice (tazkd). C. Upper, Western blot of tafazzin protein in heart extracts of 3 and 12 month-old wildtype and tazkd mice and in skeletal muscle extracts of 12 month-old wildtype and tafazzin knockdown mice probed with anti-tafazzin antibodies (61). VDAC was used as a loading control. Bottom, densitometric analysis of Western blots from the upper panel C, tafazzin levels were normalized by VDAC levels, NS, non-specific band. D. Monolysocardiolipin (MLC L) and cardiolipin (CL) levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography in heart and skeletal muscle isolated mitochondria from wildtype and tazkd mice; an elevated ratio of MLC L/CL indicates a defect in CL remodeling. E. Body weights of wildtype and tazkd mice. F. Heart weight normalized by total body weight. Values are mean ± SEM, n≧3. *, p<0.05; ***, p<0.001 using Students t-test. **, 2-way ANOVA, Sidak’s post-test.