Figure 3.

The cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. Stimulation of HGrC1 cells with GDF9, FSH, or GDF9 + FSH resulted in elevated mRNA levels in 6 enzymes along the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. Solid line boxes show the enzymes of which mRNA levels were upregulated more than 2.0-fold in the microarray analysis. The enzymes in gray boxes were elevated with GDF9, FSH, or GDF9 + FSH stimulation, while those in white boxes were not changed or analyzed. The enzymes in dotted lined boxes were not evaluated either by microarray or RT-PCR. HGrC1 indicates human immortalized nonluteinized granulosa cell line; GDF9, growth differentiation factor 9; FSH, follicle-stimulating hormone; mRNA, messenger RNA; RT-PCR, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.