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Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 23 pp 11520—11540
Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) alleviates hepatic steatosis by increasing hepatic lipid turnover and inhibiting the mTORC1 signaling axis in hepatocytes
Figure 4. Exogenous BMP4 alleviates lipid accumulation and inhibits the development and progression of a mouse model of NAFLD. Ad-B4 or Ad-GFP were intrahepatically injected into the mice treated with HFD, and the mice were sacrificed at weeks 4 and 12 for following analyses. (A) The retrieved liver tissue was subjected to H & E staining (a) and ORO staining (b). (B) The body weights at weeks 4 and 12 (a and b), and serum total triglyceride (TG) at weeks 4 and 12 (c and d) were measured respectively. (C) Total RNA was isolated from the retrieved liver tissue of the HFD mice injected with Ad-B4 or Ad-GFP at weeks 4 and 12 respectively, and subjected to TqPCR analysis of the expression of triglyceride synthesis and storage related genes (a and c) and triglyceride breakdown related genes (b and d). All samples were normalized with Gapdh. Relative expression was calculated by dividing the relative expression values (i.e., gene/Gapdh) in “**” p < 0.01, “*” p < 0.05, Ad-B4 group vs. Ad-GFP group. Each assay condition was done in triplicate, and representative images are shown.