Journal: Frontiers in Nutrition

Article Title: Zhaqu compound improves glucose and lipid metabolism in T2DM with MASLD by modulating gut microbiota and PPARγ

doi: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1775686

Figure Lengend Snippet: ZQC modulates glucose and lipid metabolism in HG/PA-induced HepG2 cells. (A) Volcano plots of differential hepatic RNAs (Mol vs. ZQC). (B) GO enrichment of differential RNAs in ZQC group. (C,D) KEGG enrichment of differential RNAs in ZQC group. (E) CCK8 assay showing cell viability at different serum concentrations. (F) 2-NBDG fluorescence and Oil Red O staining in Control, HG/PA, HG/PA + 5% ZQC-S, and HG/PA + 7.5% ZQC-S groups. (G) Quantification of 2-NBDG fluorescence intensity. (H–J) WB analysis of key gluconeogenic proteins (e.g., PEPCK, G6Pase, GLUT2). (K) Representative WB bands of selected glucose- and lipid-related proteins. (L) Quantification of lipid droplet content from Oil Red O staining. ( # p < 0.05, ## p < 0.01, ### p < 0.001 vs. CON; * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 vs. HG/PA).

Article Snippet: The reagents and antibodies used were the Total Protein (TP) Assay Kit (1,000 tests, P0006, Biyuntian Biotechnology, China), Glucose Assay Kit (96 T, A154-1-1, Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, China), Total Cholesterol (T-CHO) Assay Kit (96 T, A111-1-1, Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, China), Triglyceride (TG) Assay Kit (96 T, A110-1-1, Nanjing Jiancheng Bioengineering Institute, China), Sequencing Reagent Kit (NovaSeq 6,000 SP Reagent Kit V1.5, Illumina, USA), RNA Mini Kit (Qiagen, Germany), DMEM High Glucose Medium (PM150210, Procell, China), Trypsin (S310JV, Shanghai Yuanpei, China), Fetal Bovine Serum (C04001-500, Vivacell, China), Double Antibody (S110JV, Shanghai Yuanpei, China), PPARγ agonist (HY-146480, MCE, USA), Palmitic acid (H8780, Solarbio, China), Oil Red O staining kit (G1262, Solarbio, China), 2-NBDG fluorescent probe (HY-116215, MCE, USA), BCA protein concentration assay kit (BL521C, Biosharp, China), SDS-PAGE Protein Loading Buffer (5×) (BL502A, Biosharp, China), ECL Chemiluminescent Substrate (BL520B, Biosharp, China), Western Blot & IP Cell Lysis Buffer (P0013, Beyotime, China), PBS Buffer ( PB180327 , Procell, China), and the primary antibodies β -Microtubulin (AC026, Abclonal, China), PEPCK (ET7107-29, Huabio, China), G6Pase (A21168, Abclonal, China), GLUT2 (A12307, Abclonal, China), SREBP-1C (ER1917-19, Huabio, China), ACC1 (ET1609-77, Huabio, China), FASN (R1706-8, Huabio, China), PPARγ (A19676, Abclonal, China), CD36 (ET1701-24, Huabio, China), and FABP4 (ET1703-98, Huabio, China).

Techniques: CCK-8 Assay, Fluorescence, Staining, Control