Fig. 4: B3galt5 whole-body knockout exacerbates high-fat diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance in mice.

Wild-type (WT) mice and B3galt5 whole-body knockout (KO) mice were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 12 weeks. a Appearance (top) and growth curve (bottom) of WT and B3galt5 KO mice (n = 13 for WT, n = 14 for KO). (b-d) Representative photographs and the ratio of fat depots to body weight of eWAT (b, top), iWAT (c, top), and BAT (d, top) (n = 8 per group). (e) H&E staining of adipose tissues of eWAT, iWAT and BAT. Scale bar: 50 μm. f Blood glucose concentrations during GTT (2 g/kg; top) and ITT (0.75 U/kg; bottom) in WT and B3galt5 KO mice (n = 8 per group). g Protein levels of phosphorylated Akt and total Akt in the liver, adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle after insulin injection. HFD-fed mice received a bolus injection of insulin (1 U/kg) through the portal vein, β-Tubulin was used as the loading control. (h) Serum insulin (n = 8 for WT, n = 7 for KO) and leptin (n = 8 per group) levels in WT and B3galt5 KO mice. i, j Oxygen consumption (i) and whole-body energy expenditure (j) of WT and B3galt5 KO mice (n = 5 per group). eWAT epididymal white adipose tissue, iWAT inguinal white adipose tissue, BAT brown adipose tissue. Data are mean ± SEM. All the data were assessed form normal distribution before statistical analysis. Significance was analyzed using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Sidak’s multiple comparisons test (Fig. 2a and f). The remaining statistical differences were determined using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.