Fig. 6: Transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) drives ciliary shortening and gene suppression similar to the obese phenotype.

A Truncated violin plots of the members of the regulatory factor X (RFX) family (RFX1, RFX2, and RFX3). Values reflect the fragments per kilobase per million mapped fragments (fpkm) of genes from the RNA‑seq data. Each violin plot displays the median (central dashed line) and quartiles (upper and lower dotted lines). B Relative gene levels of RFX2 were corroborated with RT-PCR. The results are obtained from five individual samples for the lean and four individual samples of the obesity group, and presented as relative quantification (RQ) with SEM. GAPDH was used as endogenous control. C–G Treatment of lean ASCsub with TGFβ for 48 h. C Primary cilia of lean ASCsub were stained for the ciliary markers acetylated α-tubulin (ace tubulin, green) and ARL13B (ADP-ribosylation factor-like GTPase 13B, red), and DNA (DAPI, blue). Representatives are shown. Scale: 5 μm. D Cilium lengths were measured and are presented as scatter dot plots (mean ± SD). The results are based of three individual samples per group. E–G Relative gene levels of RFX2, ADCY3 (adenylate cyclase 3), IFT88 (intraflagellar transport), IFT172, COL1A1 (collagen 1A1), and SERPINE1 (serpin family E member 1) are shown. The results were obtained from three individual samples in each group and presented as relative quantification (RQ) with SEM. GAPDH served as endogenous control. Statistical significance was analyzed with the Student’s t test. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001.