Minispec mq7

Male mice on a C57BL/6 background were purchased from the Animal Core Facility of Nanjing Medical University and housed on a 12/12 h light/dark cycle with free access to food and water. Mice were maintained in cages exposed to room air (25 °C) or in cages inside temperature-controlled chambers (16 °C) as indicated in the figure legend. After acclimation to the facility (1 week), mice were fed a high-fat diet with 60% of the calories from fat (Research Diets) starting at 7–8 weeks of age to induce obesity. Synthesized BAPSP1 or vehicle (saline) was administered by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection twice a week for 16 weeks. Body weight and food intake were monitored daily. The total amounts of fat and lean mass in HFD-fed mice were assessed with a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system (Minispec mq 7.5, Bruker Optics).

Body composition was determined in vivo with a nuclear magnetic resonance analyzer (minispec mq7.5, Bruker). For metabolic measurements, mice were acclimated for 1–2 days and then monitored for 48 h using a PhenoMaster System (TSE Systems) fitted with indirect calorimetry and activity monitors to measure activity and energy expenditure. Due to locomotor dysfunction of NYKO mice, food was provided from the bottom of the cage during the measurements for both genotypes.

The body weight of the mice was assessed weekly. Naso-anal length and body weight after 25 weeks of treatment were calculated to evaluate BMI. The body composition of lean and fat mass was assessed by NMR spectroscopy using the Minispec-mq7.5 (Bruker Corporation, Billerica, MA, USA). An oral glucose tolerance test was performed after 8 weeks of treatment. Mice were fasted for 6 h and fasting blood glucose values were assessed. Then animals received a 40% glucose solution to a final dose of 1 mg glucose/g body weight. Blood glucose values were measured after 0, 5, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min after glucose application using an ACCU-CHEK glucometer (Roche Diabetes Care Deutschland, Germany).
Blood pressure and heart rate were measured using a non-invasive, photoplethysmographic method (BP-2000 Blood Pressure Analysis System, version 2015.1.29, Visitech Systems, Apex, USA). The measurements were performed for 10 days in a row at the same time of day. There were three single measurements each day. For statistical analysis with the manufacturer’s software (BP-2000 Analysis Software) the mean values of the previous 3 days were used since the mice needed to become accustomed to the method in order to generate valid values. The systolic blood pressure was measured by a non-invasive computerised tail cuff system (Visitech System BP-2000, Apex, USA) as described previously [20 (link)].