Fig. 8: Kindlin-2 knockdown attenuates hepatic steatosis in HFD and ob/ob mice.

a Eight-week-old C57BL/6 male mice were fed with HFD for 8 weeks and then injected with AAV8 expressing Kindlin-2 shRNA (AAV8-shK2) or a negative control shRNA (AAV8-shNC) through the tail vein, followed by another 8 weeks of HFD feeding. Expression of Kindlin-2 in livers and other organs of mice of both groups was determined by western blotting. Protein extracts (20 μg) were used for western blotting from fat, heart, and liver. b Gross liver appearance, c body weight, and d liver weight (n = 6). Scale bar, 1 cm. e Liver TG (normalized to liver weight) (n = 6). f Liver TCH (normalized to liver weight) (n = 6). g Blood glucose level (n = 6). h Representative images of H/E staining and Oil Red O staining of liver sections. i Images of H/E staining and Oil Red O staining of liver sections of ob/ob mice. Eight-week-old ob/ob male mice fed on NCD were injected with AAV8-shK2 or AAV8-GFP. Mice were fed on NCD for another 8 weeks before sacrifice. Scale bar: 100 μm. c–g Data are presented as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, determined by two-tailed Student’s t-test. h, i Data are representative of three biologically independent replicates.