Fig. 7: Musclin-specific Musclin knockout promotes thermogenesis and energy expenditure.
Male Musclinflox/flox and Musclin-MKO were used in studies shown in this figure. a Immunoblots of total protein lysates from muscle. b Plasma Musclin levels. Musclinflox/flox vs Musclin-MKO, n = 14 vs 15. c-m, Mice fed with HFD began at 3 months old and continued for 3–5 months. c Body temperature of HFD-fed mice during acute cold exposure. Musclinflox/flox vs Musclin-MKO, n = 8 vs 7. d Representative infrared images (left) and the average body surface temperature (right) of mice following 6.5 h of CL316,243 injection. Musclinflox/flox vs Musclin-MKO, n = 10 vs 9. e Blood glucose following 6 h of fasting at 16°C. Musclinflox/flox vs Musclin-MKO, n = 10 vs 9. f Glucose tolerance test (left) and AUC (right). Musclinflox/flox vs Musclin-MKO, n = 9 vs 7. g Insulin tolerance test (left) and AUC (right). Musclinflox/flox vs Musclin-MKO, n = 10 vs 9. h iWAT weight. n = 6 per group. i Representative H&E staining images of iWAT (left) and adipocyte size analysis (right). n = 5 per group. j Oxygen consumption rates of mice were monitored at RT (24°C) for 3 consecutive days following thermoneutrality at 30°C (1 week) and an additional 4 days of adaptation at RT. Lean mass was applied for normalization. k Average oxygen consumption rate of mice at day time or night time during the 3 days of monitoring as in (j). l Averaged energy expenditure tested at day time and night time. j–l Musclinflox/flox vs Musclin-MKO, n = 6 vs 5. m Immunoblots of total iWAT protein lysates (left) and quantification of protein levels (right). n = 6 per group. b–m Data represent mean ± SEM (n represents biologically independent animals). c, two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons. b, d–i, k–m Two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test. Experiments in b–e, m were repeated independently three times, and results in f–l were repeated independently twice with similar results. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
