Cholesterol esterification activity in adrenal
membranes and hepatic microsomes of wild-type and
Acact−/− mice. (A) Adrenal
membrane activity in female mice. Assays were performed with 100 μg
of protein as described in Materials and Methods. Results
are shown for three samples for each genotype; each sample contained
pooled adrenals from two mice. Exogenous cholesterol (20 nmol) in the
form of liposomes was added during the preincubation. ∗,
P < 0.01 versus
Acact+/+. (B) Hepatic membrane
activity of female mice fed a chow diet. Assays were performed with 150
μg of protein in the presence or absence of 20 nmol of exogenous
cholesterol provided as liposomes during preincubation
(Acact+/+, n = 3;
Acact−/−, n = 3).
(C) Hepatic membrane activity of mice fed a high-fat,
high-cholesterol diet. Assays were performed with 150 μg of protein
without added cholesterol (Acact+/+,
n = 3; Acact−/−,
n = 3). P = 0.20 for the
difference between means. (D) Effects of the ACAT inhibitor
CI-976 (10 μg/ml) on cholesterol esterification activity of hepatic
microsomes from chow-fed mice. Assays were performed after
preincubation with exogenous cholesterol.