Fig. 7: Impaired adipose Olfm2 results in an obese phenotype.

a The largest depots of white adipose tissue were surgically exposed and injected with our lentiviruses carrying sh-Olfm2 (Olfm2_KD) or a non-silencing (NS) plasmid control. For the molecular assessment of changes affecting these adipose tissues, half of the specimens were terminated 2 weeks after treatment (n = 10; 1:1). Here, b impaired Olfm2 transcript levels were confirmed, paralleling the expression of a hub of gene markers for inflammation and fibrosis (increased), as well as cell cycle (decreased) in omental (OM) fat pads. c Also in OM, but primarily in d subcutaneous (SC) adipose tissue, impaired expression of gene markers for triglyceride metabolism (Lpl), axon guidance (Ephb2, Slit2), and focal adhesion (Pdgfra, Pdgfrb) ran together with the down-regulation of early adipocyte progenitor markers (Zfp423, Klf5, Klf14) in Olfm2_KD mice. To evaluate the physiological consequences of impaired OLFM2 in adipose tissues, the remaining animals (n = 10; 1:1) were maintained under a standard laboratory chow (NC) and monitored for 5 weeks, before being terminated. Notably, e the Olfm2_KD group depicted a higher growth, leading to f increased (p = 0.17) final body weight, although g not significant differences were observed in terms of food intake. Accompanying theses variations, h impaired adiponectin and i increased basal glucose levels were suggestive of obesity-related impaired metabolic homeostasis affecting our adipose-specific Olfm2 knocked-down mice, as further indicated by j glucose tolerance tests (GTT) and k area under the curve (AUC). l Representative images of the hematoxylin–eosin staining of SC and OM adipose tissues administered with either sh-Olfm2 or NS lentiviral particles in animals fed a normal chow. The scale bars denote 50 μm length. The morphometric analysis of adipocytes indicated higher adipocyte area in the Olfm2_KD group. Data in error bars are expressed as mean ± S.E.M. The box and violin plots show center line at the median, upper and lower lines bound at 75th and 25th percentiles, respectively, and whiskers at minimum and maximum values. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 (Two-way ANOVA for multiple comparisons by controlling the FDR (Benjamini, Krieger & Yekutieli) q value, or two-sided Student’s test p value). Source data are provided as a Source data file.