Fig. 3: Effect of global NQO1 transgenesis and diet composition on key players of insulin action in skeletal muscle and eWAT of mice.
From: NQO1 protects obese mice through improvements in glucose and lipid metabolism
a Comparison of the 3-h refeeding period with SD and HFD on insulin receptor/IRS-1 pathway activation. Upper diagram illustrates the experimental protocol. Middle panel, immunoblots for IR β-subunit, IRS-1, serine phosphorylated AS160, and NQO1 from skeletal muscle homogenates. Note the marked accumulation of rat NQO1 transgene. Ponceau S staining of the membrane is shown and the molecular weight protein standards (kDa) are depicted on the left. Bottom panel, densitometric quantification of IR β-subunit and phosphorylated AS160. Values are represented as boxplots with individual values (n = 5 per group). b Fixed adipose tissue from HFD-fed mice were H&E stained (top panels) and processed for expression of CD68 by immunohistochemistry (bottom panels). Each specimen was examined at the same magnification. c Degree of fat cell infiltration by CD68+ cells, n = 7. d Relative TNFα mRNA levels in the liver determined by quantitative PCR, n = 4–5. e Immunoblots for IR β-subunit, ACC, ACLY, FASN, Lipin 1, and NQO1 from eWAT homogenates. Note the presence of the rat NQO1 transgene. f Densitometric quantification of the immunoblots depicted in e, n = 3–5. *, **, ***p < 0.05, 0.01, 0.001.
