Fig. 4

High ACSL3 expression promotes lipid metabolism via enhancing the transcription of lipid metabolism-associated genes in HCC cells. (A) Heatmap of mRNA expression profile of MHCC-97H cells treated with siACSL3 at a concentration of 30 nM. (B, C) KEGG (B) and GSEA (C) analysis of the DEGs in MHCC-97 H cells treated with siACSL3 at a concentration of 30 nM. (D) Heatmap of the DEGs in the PPAR signaling pathway enriched in KEGG analysis shown in (C). (E, F) qRT-PCR analysis of expression of the DEGs shown in (D) in MHCC-97H (E) and Huh7 cells (F) treated with 30 nM siACSL3 or 20 µM PPARα inhibitor GW6471. (G-J) Production of acetyl-CoA (G), NADH (H) and ATP (I) and formation of lipid droplets (J) in MHCC-97H and Huh7 cells treated with 30 nM siACSL3 or 20 µM PPARα inhibitor GW6471. ns, no significance; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001