Fig. 3.
Stearate (18:0) metabolism through the n-9 pathway in 16HBE cells. Sense (WT) and antisense (CF) cells were cultured in complete medium for seven days and then incubated with 4.1 μM [1-14C]18:0 in reduced-lipid cell culture medium for 4 h and harvested (a) or washed twice in PBS and incubated for an additional 20 h in serum-containing medium (b). Levels of labeled 18:0, 18:1n-9, and 20:3n-9 were determined by HPLC as described in “Materials and Methods”. Data are expressed as percentages of total counts and bars represent mean ± SEM (n = 3). The findings are representative of at least two independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 for sense versus antisense cells