Figure 5.

Effects of HFE deficiency on hepcidin response to serum and serum+holotransferrin. Relative changes in hepcidin mRNA levels were quantified by real-time qRT-PCR performed on cDNA synthesized from 2 μg total RNA (β-actin normalized, arbitrary units). (A) Hepatocytes isolated from either Hfe^+/+ mice or Hfe^−/−mice were treated, after a 42 h period of serum-free culture, with either 0% serum (control cells), 10% serum or 10% serum in the presence of 30 μM human holotransferrin [holoTf (h)] for 24 h. Results are expressed relative to hepatocytes cultured for 66 h without serum. Mean±SD for three independent samples. The experiment was performed twice and a representative result is shown. Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t test (unpaired, two tailed).