Figure 7. In vivo, the combination of UDCA and dexamethasone upregulates the transcriptional activity of AE2 alternate promoter sequences in injected BALB/c mice.

(A) Seven days after their hydrodynamic injection with luciferase construct I-b₁ (30 μg), BALB/c mice were treated with UDCA, dexamethasone, UDCA plus dexamethasone, or just vehicle. After 1 hour, luminescence in the abdominal area was determined by mouse bioluminescence as described in Methods. Typical mouse images corresponding to each treatment are shown. Normalizing values (n.v.) are quotients obtained for each animal after DNA quantifications (through real-time PCR) for the luciferase gene (as transfected gene) and the albumin gene (as endogenous gene) in the liver. (B) Abdominal luminescence in injected animals after the different treatments. Luminescence units were corrected with normalizing values. Normalized values are given as fold corrected luminescence units relative to those in nontreated mice. Data are mean ± SD; n = 4 each. *P < 0.05 versus vehicle control.