Figure 3
From: Bezafibrate attenuates immobilization-induced muscle atrophy in mice
Bezafibrate treatment decreases Tnfa and Il-1b expression but does not inhibit Smad2/3 protein accumulation or phosphorylation in stapled gastrocnemius muscles. (a–e) Nine-week-old C57BL/6 mice were treated with bezafibrate or vehicle once daily for eight days. Staple fixation was performed on left hind limbs on day two of drug treatment. On day nine, mice were sacrificed and gastrocnemius muscles were harvested. Accumulation of Smad2, phosphorylated Smad2 (pSmad2), Smad3 and phosphorylated Smad3 (pSmad3) proteins in same muscles, as detected by western blotting (a). Representative images are shown. Accumulation of pSmad2 (b), Smad2 (c), pSmad3 (d), and Smad3 (e) protein on the fixed side of gastrocnemius muscle based on ratios of indicated proteins to Gapdh protein, based on ImageJ. Data represent mean ± SD, and vehicle groups served as controls (each group n = 3. ns; not significant by Student’s t-test). Relative expression of Tnfa (f), Il-1b (g) and Il-6 (h) in the same muscles, based on realtime PCR (f–h). Data represent mean gene expression relative to Gapdh ± SD (each n = 5, *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001 by Student’s t-test).
