Fig. 5

Analysis of mRNA expression and levels of proteins involved in lipid synthesis and lipolysis. The expression of FADS (A) and SC4MOL (B) was examined using RT–PCR. For quantification, the samples were normalized to the expression of EEF2. FASN level (C) and the pERK/ERK (D) and the pSTAT3/STAT3 (E) ratios were analyzed using western blotting. The signal was normalized to total protein content assessed by Ponceau S staining. Control constitutes non-treated adipocytes. The mean of at least three biological repetitions ± SD is shown. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences between control adipocytes and 3T3L1/CAAs. The significance levels were set at p ≤ 0.05 (*), p ≤ 0.01 (**), p ≤ 0.001 (***), or p ≤ 0.0001 (****). FADS fatty acid desaturase, SC4MOL sterol-C4-methyl oxidase-like protein, FASN fatty acid synthase, EEF2 eukaryotic translation elongation factor, ERK extracellular signal-regulated kinase, STAT3 signal transducer and activator of transcription 3