FIGURE 7.

Ezetimibe fails to further activate SREBP-2 processing and increase HMGR protein in Insig-deficient enterocytes. Control and Vil-Insig⁻ mice (female, 22–35 weeks of age, 4 mice/group) were fed ad libitum with a chow diet, a chow diet containing 0.01% ezetimibe (EZE), or a fat-free diet (FF) for 5 days prior to studies. A, immunoblot analysis of isolated enterocytes. Precursor and nuclear forms of SREBP-2 are denoted as P and N, respectively. Asterisks, nonspecific bands. B, relative mRNA levels in isolated enterocytes. Total RNA from enterocytes was subjected to quantitative RT-PCR using cyclophilin as the invariant control. Each bar represents the mean ± S.E. (error bars) of value from four mice relative to that of control mice, which was arbitrarily defined as 1.0.