Fig. 4: Kindlin-2 promotes the cellular lipid metabolism disorder and inflammation stimulated by palmitic acid in hepatocytes in vitro.

a, b shRNA knockdown (KD) in vitro. Huh7 cells and primary hepatocytes were infected with lentiviruses expressing Kindlin-2 shRNA (sh-K2, #1 and #2) or negative control shRNA (sh-NC), followed by qRT-PCR and western blotting analyses. Whole-cell extracts (20 μg) were used for western blotting from each sample. c, d Bodipy staining. Huh7 cells and primary hepatocytes with and without Kindlin-2 KD as in (a, b). Ninety-six hours later, cells were treated with BSA or palmitic acid (PA) (200 μM) for another 18 h, followed by IF staining (c) or qRT-PCR analysis (d) (n = 4). e–g Huh7 cells and primary hepatocytes were infected with empty (EP) or Kindlin-2-expressing (K2) lentiviruses. 96 h later, cells were treated with BSA or PA (200 μM) for another 18 h, followed by western blotting (e), Bodipy staining (f), or qRT-PCR analysis (g) (n = 4). Whole-cell extracts (20 μg) were used for western blotting from each sample. a, d, g Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Scale bar, 50 μm. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, determined by two-tailed Student’s t-test. b, c, e, f Data are representative of three biologically independent replicates.