Fig. 5: Rnf13^HepTg mice present less severe hepatic steatosis, inflammation and fibrosis in the HFHC model.

a Schematic depiction of in vivo experiments performed to evaluate the function of RNF13 using hepatic Rnf13-overexpressed transgenic mice (Rnf13^HepTg) and non-transgenic mice (Rnf13^NTg) fed with a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet. Body weights (b), blood glucose levels (c, d), GTT assay and the corresponding AUC (e–f), liver weights (g), ratios of liver weight to body weight (h), serum TG levels (i), serum TC levels (j), serum LDL-C levels (k) and liver TG levels (l) of Rnf13^NTg and Rnf13^HepTg mice at the indicated time points during NCD or HFHC consumption (n = 10). H&E (m), Oil Red O (n), PSR staining (o), CD11b staining (p), and corresponding quantification of liver sections obtained from Rnf13^NTg and Rnf13^HepTg mice fed with NCD or HFHC for 16 weeks. Scale bars, 100 μm (for m–o, n = 6; for p, n = 4). Lipometabolic (q), proinflammatory (r), and profibrotic (s) mRNA expression in the liver of Rnf13^NTg and Rnf13^HepTg mice after NCD or HFHC feeding (n = 4). Serum ALT (t) and AST (u) levels of Rnf13^NTg and Rnf13^HepTg mice after NCD or HFHC feeding (n = 10). Data were expressed as mean ± SD. Two-tailed Student’s t-test for m–s, one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc analysis for c, d, f–l, t and u, two-way repeated-measures ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc analyses for b and e (Upper p-value for comparison between HFHC Rnf13^NTg group and HFHC Rnf13^HepTg group; Lower p-value for comparison between NCD Rnf13^NTg group and HFHC Rnf13^NTg group). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.