Journal: EMBO Molecular Medicine
Article Title: Saturated fatty acids induce lipotoxicity in lymphatic endothelial cells contributing to secondary lymphedema development
doi: 10.1038/s44321-025-00286-4
Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A ) Circulating levels of fatty acid-binding protein 4 (FABP4) measured by ELISA in plasma samples from patients with lymphedema ( n = 51) and non-lymphedema controls ( n = 18). ( B ) Quantification of cell death (trypan blue assay) in HDLECs treated with SA (50 µM) or palmitic acid (PA, 250 µM) with or without the FABP4 inhibitor BMS-309403 (BMS, 5 µM) pre-treatment ( n = 4 independent experiments). ( C ) Representative western blot of ER stress markers (sXBP1 and CHOP) in HDLECs treated with SA at increasing concentrations (10–50 µM) with or without BMS pre-treatment. ( D ) Representative immunofluorescence images of HDLECs treated with SA and BMS showing FABP4 (red) and the endoplasmic reticulum marker calreticulin (green). DAPI stains the nucleus (blue). Scale bars: 50 µm. ( E ) Colocalization quantification between FABP4 and calreticulin using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, showing no significant differences between treatment groups ( n = 3 independent experiments). ( F ) Quantification of cell death in HDLECs transfected with siFABP4 or scrambled siRNA (Sc-siRNA), with or without SA treatment, showing reduced cell death following FABP4 knockdown ( n = 6 independent experiments). ( G ) Western blot confirming FABP4 knockdown in HDLECs transfected with FABP4-targeting siRNA (siFABP4), with no effect on FABP5 expression ( n = 2). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical analysis: two-tailed unpaired t test for ( A ); one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post hoc test for ( B , E , F ). Significance: ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001, **** P < 0.0001. Exact P values for the statistical comparisons are shown in Appendix Table . FABP4 fatty acid binding protein 1, sXBP-1 spliced X-box binding protein 1, CHOP C/EBP homologous protein, DAPI 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. .
Article Snippet: To determine the effects of pharmacological inhibition of FABP4, either the FABP4 inhibitor BMS-309403 (15 mg·kg − 1·day − 1; HY-101903A, MedChemExpress, NJ, USA) or vehicle (phosphate-buffered saline, PBS) was administered chronically by daily oral gavage for 4 weeks starting on the day of the lymphatic surgery.
Techniques: Binding Assay, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Clinical Proteomics, Western Blot, Immunofluorescence, Marker, Transfection, Knockdown, Expressing, Two Tailed Test