High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity Model

All animal experiments were approved by the Use and Care of Experimental Animals Committee of the Jichi Medical University Guide for Laboratory Animals, and were carried out in accordance with the Jichi Medical University guidelines. C57BL/6J WT mice were purchased from Japan SLC, Inc. (Hamamatsu, Japan). LMP7^−/− mice have been previously described4 (link). Male mice (9–10 week old) were fed with either 60 kcal% HFD (Research Diets: D12492, Japan LSG, Tokyo) or standard chow (CE-2; CLEA Japan Inc., Osaka). Each mouse was weighed every 2 weeks. At terminal points, mice were fasted for 6 h, weighed again and blood was collected to obtain serum. After perfusion, the tissues were carefully excised and weighed.