Dual silencing of lipophagy and lipolysis in Rhodnius prolixus induces lipid droplet remodeling without TAG accumulation in the fat body
Fig 5
Silenced females accumulate TAG in the flight muscle during starvation.
Adult females (18 days after a blood meal) were injected with 1 μg of dsRNA for RpAtg8, RpBmm, RpAtg8 + RpBmm, or Mal (control), fed three days later, and dissected either five or ten days after feeding (Protocol 1) or injected on the tenth day after feeding and dissected 14 days after injection (Protocol 2). Flight muscles were collected, washed, individually homogenized, and total TAG (A, C, E) and protein content (B, D, F) on the 5th (A, B), 10th (C, D), and 24th (E, F) day after the blood meal were determined. Graphs show mean ± SD (n = 12–23 insects, obtained from 3 independent experiments). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001, when compared by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post-test.