Figure 4. HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) intestinal mRNA expression and Cholesterol 7 alpha-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) liver protein expression.

Gene and protein expression in fasted summer (SUM) (grey bars) squirrels and hibernators (filled bars) in entrance (EN), early torpor (ET), late torpor (LT), arousal (AR), and interbout arousal (IBA) are shown. HMGR gene expression is normalized to reference genes (acidic ribosomal phosphoprotein, succinate dehydrogenase complex subunit A, and hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase) and expressed relative to SUM which was set at 1.0. CYP7A1 expression is normalized to β-actin protein expression (example blot panel C). Groups with the same letter are not different. All values represent means ± s.e.m. and n = 5 or 6.