A Snake Venom-Secreted Phospholipase A₂ Induces Foam Cell Formation Depending on the Activation of Factors Involved in Lipid Homeostasis

Figure 1

Both PPAR-γ and PPAR-β/δ are involved in MT-III-induced LD formation in macrophages, but only PPAR-β/δ is required for MT-III-induced PLIN2 protein expression in these cells. Peritoneal macrophages were incubated with GW9662 or GSK0660 (10 μM) compounds for 1 h and then with MT-III (0.4 μM) for 12 h. (a) LDs were quantified using light microscopy after osmium staining. Each bar represents the mean ± SEM LDs/cell in 50 counted cells. Values represent means ± SEM from 3–5 animals. compared with control group; compared with vehicle-treated MT-III-stimulated cells. (b) Western blotting and densitometric analysis of the band intensities of PLIN2 and β-actin (loading control) in macrophage extracts. The densities (in arbitrary units) were normalized with those of β-actin. Results are expressed as mean ± SEM from three experiments. compared with controls. compared with vehicle-treated MT-III-stimulated cells.

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