FIGURE 7.

The CHOL/CHOL ester contents (A) and the PREG/PREG ester contents (B) in adrenals of normal (WT), Acat1^−/−, Acat2^−/−, and Lcat^−/− mice. For adrenal CHOL/CHOL ester measurement, samples were collected from 16 mice/group and analyzed as a single pool. Mice were housed at the Dartmouth animal facility. For PREG/PREG ester measurements, in the first experiment, mice were housed at the Dartmouth animal facility. The adrenals isolated from the 2-month-old normal (WT), Acat1^−/− and Acat2^−/− male mice were collected at 6 mice/group and analyzed as 2 separate pools, each consisting of tissues from 3 mice. In the second experiment, mice were housed at the NIH animal facility. The samples were analyzed in the same manner as the first experiment. The adrenals were isolated from the 3.5-month-old normal (WT) and Lcat^−/− mice, with comparable numbers in males and females. Procedures for lipid extraction, quantitation of PREG/PREG ester by LC-MS/MS, and quantitation of CHOL/CHOL ester by GC-MS are described under “Experimental Procedures.” The error bar indicates differences between the mean.