Fig. 4

UC-MSCs alleviated insulin resistance in NLRP3^–/– HepG2 cells. (a–d) WT and shRNA-NLRP3 HepG2 cells were incubated with PA–LPS followed by coculturing with UC-MSCs and then mRNA was measured by RT-PCR. (e–g) Cytokine contents evaluated by ELISA assay. (h) Caspase-1 activity assayed in WT and shRNA-NLRP3 HepG2 cells treated with PA and UC-MSCs. (i) Immunoblot analysis showing the expression of NLRP3, p-IRS (Ser307), IRS, PI3K, p-AKT (Thr308), AKT, and Glut4 in three groups. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Images are representative of three independent experiments in WT and shRNA-NLRP3 HepG2 cells respectively. IL interleukin, LPS lipopolysaccharide, PA palmitic acid, TNF tumor necrosis factor, UC-MSC umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell