Fig. 7: BAT-selective NCC depletion in Nccfl/flUcp1Cre mice exacerbates obesity and insulin resistance and impairs thermogenesis in HFD-fed mice.
a–c Bodyweight gain (Nccfl/fl: n = 13; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre: n = 9), GTT and AUC of GTT (Nccfl/fl: n = 9; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre: n = 8), ITT and AUC of ITT (Nccfl/fl: n = 11; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre: n = 9) (a), EAT, SAT, BAT, and liver weights (n = 9 per group) (b), and energy intake (Nccfl/fl: n = 11; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre: n = 10) (c) in Nccfl/fl and Nccfl/flUcp1Cre mice fed a HFD for 12 weeks. d–e H&E (Nccfl/fl: n = 15; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre: n = 9) (d) and UCP1 immunostaining (Nccfl/fl: n = 11; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre: n = 9) (e) of EAT, SAT, and BAT from indicated groups of mice. Scale: 50 μm. Inset: 25 μm. f RT-PCR analysis of thermogenic, lipolytic, and mitochondrial genes expression in BAT from indicated mice (Nccfl/fl: n = 10; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre: n = 9). g Immunoblots and quantification of UCP1, PGC1α, and Cyt C relative to GAPDH in BAT from indicated mice (n = 5 per group). h-i. Representative FACS images and quantification of CD11b+Siglec F+ eosinophils (Nccfl/fl-EAT: n = 9; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre-EAT: n = 7; Nccfl/fl-SAT: n = 10; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre-SAT: n = 6; Nccfl/fl-BAT: n = 6; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre-BAT: n = 4) (h) and CD11b+F4/80 + total, CD11b+F4/80 +CD11c+ M1, and CD11b+F4/80 +CD206+ M2 macrophages in EAT, SAT, and BAT (Nccfl/fl-EAT: n = 3; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre-EAT: n = 4; Nccfl/fl-SAT: n = 3; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre-SAT: n = 4; Nccfl/fl-BAT: n = 3; Nccfl/flUcp1Cre-BAT: n = 3) (i) from indicated mice. Data are mean ± SEM, two-way ANOVA repeated-measures, followed by LSD post-test (a), two-sided Mann-Whitney U test (b, e, f), two-sided Student’s t-test (c, d, g–i). Sample sizes were all biologically independent samples.
