Figure 3

Adipose tissue is fundamentally altered in caspase-2-deficient mice. (a) Leptin and adiponectin serum levels and qRT-PCR analysis in adipose tissue from caspase-2 knockout and WT mice fed chow versus Western diet (four animals per genotype in chow diet groups and eight animals per genotype in Western diet groups), at sacrifice. (b) Representative photos from H&E staining in adipose tissue sections, and average size of adipocytes (100x field). Scale bar, 100 μm. (c) Number of adipocytes/HPF. Size and number of adipocytes was assessed in five photos in 100x magnification, from each mouse. (d) Cyclin expression (immunoblot, qRT-PCR). The errors reported represent mean±S.E.M, normalized to chow-diet-fed WT mice. *P<0.05, **P<0.01 chow versus Western diet; ^#P<0.05, ^##P<0.01 WT versus knockout mice. Interaction, assessed by two-way ANOVA, indicates that the effect of diet was different between genotypes. (e) Proliferation (BrdU) in adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells isolated from WT or knockout mice-fed chow diet. The errors reported represent mean±S.E.M from six replicate measurements. The experiment was repeated three times, with similar results