Fig. 1

Exendin-4 reduces Oleic acid-induced lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells. In all experiments, HepG2 cells were starved for 6 h and then treated with 400 μM Oleic acid for 16 h. Afterwards, cells were treated for 3 h with a fresh DMEM solution containing 400 µM OA in the presence or absence of 200 nM Ex-4. a Confocal imaging of lipid droplets after staining with 0.2 mM BODIPY 493/503 (green) and DAPI (blue). The white dots in the bright field images indicate lipid droplets. b Quantification of the lipid content with the BODIPY/DAPI fluorescence ratio in steatotic cells relative to untreated cells, and in Ex-4-treated steatotic cells relative to steatotic cells. For each treatment condition (untreated, steatotic, and Ex-4-treated steatotic cells), two independent researchers analyzed 200 individual cells from three separate experiments. Values are expressed as the mean ± SE (n = 3). *p < 0.05