Figure 2

Cholesterol metabolism is impaired in the liver tissues of Gnmt^-/- mice. (A) Western blot and (B) real-time PCR analyses of genes involved in hepatic cholesterol uptake (ABCA1 and SR-B1), cholesterol synthesis (HMGCR and SREBP2), cholesterol trafficking (NPC1, NPC2 and StAR) and hepatic cholesterol efflux (ABCG1) in 11-wk-old WT and Gnmt^-/- mice (n = 5–6 mice per group). The expression of each gene is normalized to GAPDH. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01. (C) ¹³¹I-labeled 6β-iodocholesterol injection site. (D) Representative SPECT images of WT and Gnmt^-/- mice after injection of ¹³¹I-labeled 6β-iodocholesterol (n = 2 in each group). B: □, WT; ■, male Gnmt^-/-; ▨, female Gnmt^-/-; D: −□−, WT; −■−, Gnmt^-/-.