<div style="text-align: justify;">Due to the complexity of insulin in life activities, the role of insulin in mammalian lactation has not been well explained. To investigate the influence of insulin on milk fat synthesis, bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs) were cultured in treatment with insulin. We determined the content of Triglyceride (TG) in cell-free culture medium and found a notable increase in TG secrection. Lipid droplet staining study showed a consistent result. We also used real-time quantitative PCR and western blotting to detect the expression of signaling molecules related to milk fat synthesis. We found that insulin resulted in an obvious increase of SREBP-1, mTOR and lipogenic gene expression compared with the blank group. Taken together, our study reveals that insulin plays a significant role in milk fat synthesis.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Effects of Insulin on Milk Fat Synthesis by Regulating the Expressions of SREBP1 and mTOR in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells</div>

<p><strong>Background: </strong>Apple seed extract (ASE) contains multiple bioactive constituents that may affect apoptosis-related cellular responses. This study evaluated ASE in HCT116 cells and an exploratory HCT116 exposure-based mouse uterine lesion-like model.<br />
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<strong>Methods: </strong>HCT116 cells were treated with amygdalin, phlorizin, their combination, or ASE. Female ICR mice were used to assess uterine histopathology and apoptosis-, proliferation-, inflammation-, angiogenesis- and extracellular matrix-related markers after ASE administration.<br />
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<strong>Results:</strong> ASE caused more pronounced morphological disruption and viability reduction than the single compounds, with increased Casp-3, decreased Bcl-2, altered TNF-&alpha; expression and altered MMP activity. In mice, ASE reduced uterine weight gain and attenuated histological abnormalities. ASE also decreased PCNA expression, increased Bax expression and reduced Bcl-2 expression, whereas VEGF and mTOR showed variable dose- and region-dependent patterns. These findings indicate that ASE modulates apoptosis-related responses in HCT116 cells and uterine tissues under the present exploratory model conditions.<br />
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Effects of Insulin on Milk Fat Synthesis by Regulating the Expressions of SREBP1 and mTOR in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells

Apple Seed Extract Alters Apoptosis-related Markers in HCT116 Cells and Uterine Tissues of an Exploratory Mouse Lesion Model