Figure 4

Dysregulated lipid levels and lipid droplets in HD flies.

(a) elav>Httex1p Q93 flies (diseased, grey bars) have significantly low lipid content at the time of emergence that shoots up upon disease progression (day 3–7). The lipid level becomes significantly low at terminal stage of the disease (day 11–13) as compared to the age-matched control flies (black bars). P-value: ***P < 0.001; **P < 0.01; *P < 0.05. (b) Lipid droplets (LD) in control flies did not undergo much variation in their size whereas diseased flies had bigger lipid droplets in abdominal fat cells at day 7. At the later stage of disease (11–13 days) the size and intensity of LD is significantly reduced as compared to their age-matched controls. Arrowheads mark large LD at day 7 and smaller LD at day 11–13. Scale bar: 10 μm. (c) Quantification of total surface area of LD representing significant increase in area occupied by lipid droplets at day 3 followed by decline at day 11 and 13 in diseased condition (grey bars). Error bars represent ± SEM. P-value: *P < 0.05.