Fig. 5: Thermoneutrality increases the number of c-Kit⁺ BAs and expression of c-Kit in BAT.

a Diagram depicting the experimental procedure for the exposure of 8-week-old c-Kit^iTR mice to RT (25°C) or thermoneutrality (TN, 30°C) for 3 or 5 days with tamoxifen administrations. b–d Representative of the number of c-Kit⁺ BAs, and the populations of different sizes of lipid droplets in BATs from the c-Kit^iTR mice at RT (25°C) or thermoneutrality (TN, 30°C) for 3 or 5 days (RT3, TN3, or TN5). Scale bars, 20 µm. Each dot indicates a value from one mouse and n = 4 mice/group from two independent experiments. Vertical bars indicate mean ± SD. ***P < 0.001 versus RT by one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test (c). Each dot indicates the population (%) of the total of 1200–2400 droplets (100%) from three portions of BAT in one mouse and n = 4 mice/group from two independent experiments. Vertical bars indicate mean ± SD. *P < 0.05 and ***P < 0.001 versus R3 by one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test (d). NS, not significant. e Diagram depicting the experimental procedure for the exposure of 8-week-old C57BL/6 J mice to RT (25 °C) or thermoneutrality (TN, 30°C) for 3 or 5 days (R5, T3, or T5). f–k Representative immunoblotting and comparisons of c-Kit and UCP1 in BATs from C57BL/6 J mice at R5, T3, and T5. Each dot indicates a value from one mouse and n = 6 mice/group from two independent experiments. Vertical bars indicate mean ± SD. *P < 0.05 versus R5 by one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test. NS, not significant. Protein sizes are indicated as kilodalton (kDa).