Figure 3. Slc10a2−/− mice display lower hepatic TGs and cholesterol than wild type mice.

(A) Liver TGs and cholesterol content were analyzed from a total of four groups; wt and Slc10a2−/− mice fed either standard mouse chow or a sucrose-rich (SR) diet (Materials and Methods) for two weeks. (B) Hepatic mRNA levels of ATP-citrate lyase (Acl), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (Acc), fatty acid synthase (Fas) and stearoyl-CoA desaturase 1 (Scd1), enzymes involved in fatty acid synthesis from wt or Slc10a2−/− animals, as in (A). (C) Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1 (Srebp1) immunoblots were performed on pooled liver cytoplasmic and nuclear protein preparations, respectively, from wt or Slc10a2−/− mice fed a regular chow or a SR diet using an antibody specific for the N’-terminus of Srebp1. An antibody against lamin was used as nuclear loading control. The blot is representative of three separate immunoblots. Hepatic mRNA expression levels of (D), glucokinase (Gk); pyruvate kinase (Lpk); (E) glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6pdh); malic enzyme (Me). mRNA values in the wt group fed regular chow were normalized to 1. (F) Fibroblast growth factor 21, FGF(21). mRNA values in the wt group on regular chow were normalized to 1. Data are expressed as mean ± standard error (SEM) for the mRNA, hepatic cholesterol and TG analysis. wt (n = 6), Slc10a2−/− (n = 5), wt + SR (n = 6) and Slc10a2+/− +SR (n = 6) for A-D. Significances of differences between groups were tested by Student’s t test, a p-value <0.05 is denoted *. p<0.01 is denoted **.