Fig. 1

ChREBP expression is reduced in the renal cortex of db/db mice treated with the LPAR inhibitor, ki16425. Eight-week-old wild-type and db/db mice were intraperitoneally injected with the vehicle or ki16425 (10 mg/kg) for 8 weeks on a daily basis, following which the mice were sacrificed. A The level of ChREBP protein in the renal cortex was analyzed by western blotting, quantified using ImageJ software, and normalized to those of β-actin. B The level of ChREBP mRNA in the renal cortex was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The data are presented as the mean ± SEM (n = 3/group); *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01. C Representative images depicting the colocalization of α-SMA (green) and ChREBP (red) in the kidney tissue sections of mice. The nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). The white arrows indicate the cytosolic expression of ChREBP, and the yellow arrows indicate the nuclear expression of ChREBP in α-SMA-positive cells. Scale bars, 20 μm; n = 3