Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 23 pp 11520—11540
Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) alleviates hepatic steatosis by increasing hepatic lipid turnover and inhibiting the mTORC1 signaling axis in hepatocytes
Figure 3. Exogenous BMP4 decreases the body weights, inhibits serum and hepatic triglyceride accumulation in vivo. (A) Ad-B4 or Ad-GFP was intrahepatically injected into 4-week old mice. The mice were sacrificed at weeks 4 and 12, and the retrieved liver tissue was subjected to H & E staining (a) and ORO staining (b). (B) The mouse body weights at weeks 4 and 12 (a and b), and serum total triglyceride (TG) (c and d) at weeks 4 and 12 were measured respectively. (C) Total RNA was isolated from the liver tissue of the mice injected with Ad-B4 or Ad-GFP at weeks 4 and 12 respectively, and TqPCR analysis was carried out to detect the expression of triglyceride synthesis and storage related genes (a and c) and triglyceride breakdown related genes (b and d). All samples were normalized with Gapdh. Relative expression was calculated by dividing the relative expression values (i.e., gene/Gapdh) in “**” p < 0.01, “*” p < 0.05, Ad-B4 group vs. Ad-GFP group. Each assay condition was done in triplicate, and representative images are shown or indicated by arrows.