Fig. 2
From: RNA binding protein HuR protects against NAFLD by suppressing long noncoding RNA H19 expression
Hepatocyte-specific HuR deficiency enhances WDSW-induced NAFLD by modulating the global transcriptomic profile. Total liver RNA of HuRhKO and control mice fed with WDSW for 4 weeks was processed for transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq). Significantly up-or down-regulated genes were determined as fold change ≥ 1.8 and p-value < 0.05. a Volcano plots in HuRhKO vs. control group. Red dots indicate upregulated genes; green dots indicate downregulated genes; black dots indicate not differentially expressed genes. b Hierarchical clustering heatmaps for differentially expressed genes in HuRhKO vs. control group. A Z-score was calculated for the RNA-Seq data to normalize tag counts. Red and green colors indicate up- and down-regulated gene expression, respectively. c Representative heatmap of the key genes involved in fatty acid and lipid metabolism in the liver of HuRhKO vs. control group. d Relative mRNA levels of the key genes involved in fatty acid and lipid metabolism: Acc1, Fasn, Elovl6, Fads1, Fads2, Lxrα, Lxrβ, Pparα, Pparβ, Cpt1α, Pnpla3, and Pnpla2 (Atgl). The mRNA levels were determined by real-time RT–PCR and normalized with HPRT1 as an internal control. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. Statistical significance relative to control: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 (n = 10–12, male and female)