Fig. 5

mtDNA content and impaired adipogenic differentiation in FDR APCs. a–c At the end of adipocyte differentiation, the expression of adipogenic marker genes PPARγ, GLUT4, and ADIPOQ normalized to RPL13A expression was determined by qPCR in FDR (n = 4) and CTRL (n = 4) APCs. Values are presented as absolute units (AU). d TFAM mRNA expression levels were measured by qPCR in APCs from FDR (n = 4) and CTRL (n = 4) on days 0, 3, 9, and 15 of adipocyte differentiation. Values are presented as relative-fold change (RFC) and were normalized to RPL13A expression. e Oil Red O staining was used for assessing the differentiation degree. Representative microphotographs showing lipid accumulation of CTRL (left) and FDR (right) APCs on day 15 of the differentiation process. Upper panel at 10 × magnification; bottom panel at 20×magnification. Scale bar 50 μm. f Quantification of Oil Red O staining (CTRL, n = 5; FDR, n = 5). (g–l) The mtDNA content was measured by qPCR in APCs from FDR (n = 5) and CTRL (n = 5) on days 0, 3, 9, and at the end of adipocyte differentiation. Values are presented as absolute units (AU). m CYTB, CO2, ATP6, and ND1 mRNA expression levels were measured by qPCR and normalized to TBP expression in APCs from FDR (n = 6) and CTRL (n = 6). Values are presented as absolute units (AU). (a–c, and g–m) Data are shown as boxplots (min–max). (a–d, f, and i–m) Statistical significance between the two groups was determined by unpaired Student’s t-test (*p value < 0.05, **p value < 0.01, and ***p value < 0.001 vs CTRL). h Statistical significance between the two groups was determined by unpaired Mann–Whitney (*p value < 0.05 vs CTRL)