Fig 2: ACE2 attenuated lipid deposition and inflammatory responses by acting through Nrf2 pathway.Primary mouse renal PTCs were treated with ox-LDL and transfected with pcDNA-ACE2 for stable expression. A Transfection efficiency was calculated by qRT-PCR detection of the ACE2 mRNA expression. B, C qRT-PCR and western blot analysis were performed to measure the protein expression of Nrf2 signaling pathway elements including Nrf2, SOD1, HO-1, and NQO-1. ACE2 overexpression reactivated Nrf2 pathway, which was inhibited by ox-LDL, and the Nrf2-inhibitor ML385 abrogated the effect above. D Cellular lipid droplet formation was visualized by Oil Red O staining. Cellular lipid synthesis was evaluated by examining the expression of ADRP, ACC, and FASN at mRNA (E) and protein levels (F). Expression profiles of the inflammatory cytokines were determined at mRNA (G) and protein (H) levels. ACE-2 overexpression diminished expression of TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-1ß, which was rescued by ML385. Data were representative images or were expressed as the mean ± SD of n = 3 experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.

Fig 3: Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the coincidence degree of PLIN2 expression with CD4+T cell, CD8+ T cell, CD19+B cell, CD56+NK cells, CD68+TAMs, FOXP3+Tregs in OSCC serial sections (A–C). The co-localization rate and numbers of CD4+PLIN2+, CD8+PLIN2+, CD19+PLIN2+, CD56+PLIN2+, CD68+PLIN2+, and FOXP3+PLIN2+ were analyzed (D, E). Representative images of immunofluorescence staining from human OSCC sections using the PLIN2 antibody and CD68 antibody. The bar is 20 µm (F, G).

Fig 4: The distribution of PLIN2 in OSCC tissue samples. Representative immunohistochemistry staining of PLIN2 in tumor center and invasive tumor front (A). The IHC score of PLIN2 in TCs, FLCs, and TIIs from OSCC patients in tumor center and invasive tumor front (B, C). Immunofluorescent was performed to detect the PLIN2 levels in OSCC tissues. The bar is 20 µm (D). Oil red O staining was performed to examine LD accumulation (E).

Fig 5: PLIN2 expression with different T stage (A) and lymph node metastasis (B) and TNM stage (C) in tumor center. Correlation between PLIN2 expression and metastasis status in tumor center and invasive tumor front (D, E). Correlation between PLIN2 expression and disease status in tumor center and invasive tumor front (F, G). Kaplan–Meier survival curves for overall survival time, disease-free survival time, and metastasis-free survival time of OSCC patients according to the expression of PLIN2 in tumor center (H–J) and invasive tumor front (K–M). * and ** represented that differences were considered statistically significant with p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively. ns represented no statistical differences.