Figure 3: Metabolic regulation by moderate overexpression of miR-378/378*.

(a) The expression of miR-378 and miR-378* was determined in the liver of mice (n=6). Each mouse was infected with 1 × 10⁸ PFU of Ad-null or Ad-378, to achieve moderate overexpression of miR-378/378* in the liver. (b) Blood glucose levels of Ad-null or Ad-378-infected mice (1 × 10⁸ PFU, n=4). (c) The ratio of liver weight to body weight (LW/BW) in Ad-null or Ad-378-infected mice (1 × 10⁸ PFU, n=4). (d) Time course of random glucose levels of mice after Ad-null or Ad-378 infection (1 × 10⁸ PFU, n=3). (e) Time course of the ratio of LW/BW in mice after Ad-null or Ad-378 infection (1 × 10⁸ PFU, n=3). (f) Liver and serum TG levels in mice infected with 1 × 10⁸ PFU of Ad-null or Ad-378 (n=4). Glucose-tolerance test (GTT; g, n=7) and insulin-tolerance test (ITT; h, n=7) were performed in mice infected with 1 × 10⁸ PFU of Ad-null or Ad-378. AUC data for GTT (g) and ITT (h) were calculated, respectively. The mRNA expression of G6Pase, PEPCK, PGC-1α and SHP (i), as well as ACC1, FASN, SCD1 and GCK (j) in the liver of mice receiving 1 × 10⁸ PFU of Ad-null or Ad-378 (n=4). (k) Western blot and densitometry analysis of FSAN in the liver of these mice. (l) Western blot analysis of phosphorylated Akt in the liver of mice infected with Ad-null or Ad-378 (1 × 10⁸ PFU) after insulin administration (n=3–6). Means±s.e.m. are shown for all panels. *P<0.05 versus control; **P<0.01 versus control (Student’s t-test). All experiments were repeated at least twice and representative results are shown.