Figure 1.

Human alkaline ceramidase 2 (haCER2) expression is upregulated by serum deprivation. HepG2 cells were grown to 80% confluence in serum-containing Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) prior to growth in the same medium or in serum-free DMEM. The cells were harvested at different time points following the medium change and subjected to (A) in vitro activity assays for haCER2 or total RNA was extracted from another portion of the above cells and subjected to (B) reverse transcription-quantitative PCR analysis. Data represent the mean value ± standard deviation of three independent experiments performed in duplicate. At the same time point, ^*,+P<0.05. MNE, mean normalized expression.