Fig. 1: BAT stimulates hepatic gluconeogenesis upon cold exposure.

a–j Eight-week-old male C57BL6/J mice were placed in RT (25 °C) or cold (4 °C) for 72 hours and fasted for 4 hours before sacrifice. a Rectal temperature at 0, 4, 24, 48, and 72 h (n = 6 biological replicates, from 2 independent experiments). b Western blotting and densitometry analysis of UCP1 protein levels in iBAT (n = 6 biological replicates, from 3 independent experiments). c H&E staining, scale bars:10 μm. (n = 6 each group, 3 random fields per sample, representative images were shown). d Relative expression of thermogenic-related genes in iBAT, e food intake and f body weight change (n = 8 biological replicates, from 2 independent experiments). g Experimental schematic (left panel), fluorescence image of 2-NBDG uptake into iBAT (medium panel, scale bars: 20 μm), and densitometry analysis of positive signals (right panel) (n = 3 each group, 5 random fields per sample, representative images were shown). h Western blotting and densitometry analysis of GLUT4 expression in the membrane and total fractions of iBAT. (n = 6 each group, from 2 independent experiments). i Relative expression of gluconeogenic-related genes in the liver (n = 8 each group, from 2 independent experiments). j Western blotting analysis of total and phosphorylated AKT, FOXO1 and GSK3β in liver. (n = 6 for each group, from 2 independent experiments). k–p Eight-week-old male C57BL6/J mice underwent BATectomy or a sham procedure. Following a 10-day recovery period, the mice were placed in cold for 72 h and fasted for 4 h before sacrifice. k Experimental schematic. l Rectal temperature at 0, 4, 24, 48, and 72 h (n = 6 biological replicates, from 2 independent experiments). m Food intake, n blood glucose and o relative expression of gluconeogenic-related genes in liver (n = 8 each group, from 2 independent experiments). p Western blotting analysis of total and phosphorylated AKT, FOXO1 and GSK3β in liver. (n = 6 each group, from 2 independent experiments). Data presented as mean ± sem. Statistical analysis was performed two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test a, l, one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s multiple comparisons test b and others performed two-sided unpaired t-test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.