Fig. 3

Exercise increases quadriceps muscle volume and improves muscle atrophy. a Histological sections of quadriceps femoris in each group were stained with HE (scale bar = 200 μm, black). b Body weight and quadriceps femoris mass/mass ratio in each group. c Immunohistochemical staining of Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 was performed in quadriceps femoris muscle sections of each group (scale bar = 50 μm, black). d Percentage of Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 positive area in each group. e Immunohistochemical staining of PGC-1α and FNDC5 was performed in quadriceps femoris muscle sections of each group (scale bar = 50 μm, black). f Percentage of PGC-1α and FNDC5 positive area in each group. g The mRNA levels of FNDC5、Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 in each group by qRT-PCR. The mean and standard error are used to represent the data, n = 6. * < 0.05, ** < 0.01, *** < 0.001. ns not significant