Fig. 8

TAOK2 is not involved in the regulation of hepatocellular lipotoxicity or NAFLD susceptibility. IHHs and primary mouse hepatocytes were transfected with human TAOK2 siRNA, mouse Taok2 siRNA, or their respective NTC siRNA as indicated and cultured with oleate supplementation. A, B TAOK2 protein abundance in IHHs (A) or mouse hepatocytes (B) assessed by Western blot. Protein levels analyzed by densitometry; representative Western blots are shown with GAPDH used as a loading control. C, D Representative images of IHHs (C) or mouse hepatocytes (D) stained with Bodipy 493/503 (green) or DHE (red); nuclei stained with DAPI (blue). The scale bars represent 25 µm. Quantification of the staining. E–I Correlation between TAOK2 mRNA expression determined in human liver biopsies by qRT-PCR and three individual histological lesions of NAS (i.e., liver steatosis, lobular inflammation, and hepatocellular ballooning; E–G), the total NAS (H), and the histological fibrosis score (I). Data are mean ± SEM from 3 (A, B) or 6 to 10 (C, D) wells per group. RQ, relative quantification. A–D Statistical significance between the groups was evaluated using the unpaired 2-tailed Student’s t-test. E–I Correlation between TAOK2 expression in human liver biopsies and NAS as well as fibrosis score (n = 62 subjects) was investigated by Spearman’s rank correlation analysis after the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test assessing the normality of the data. ***P < 0.001