Fig 1. Effect of β-COP shRNA on the designated protein expression and cholesterol efflux of THP-1 macrophages.

(A) β-COP mRNA levels determined by qRT-PCR. Experimental conditions are indicated in the x-axis labeling: NC refers to negative control, PC means positive control, and the β-COP and scrambled labels indicate the corresponding shRNA treatment. Minus signs indicate no shRNA transduced or apoA-1 incubation, while plus signs designate β-COP shRNA, scrambled shRNA or apoA-1 treatment. The same labels were also used in the entire study where applicable. ***, P<0.001, compared to all. (B) β-COP protein levels determined by Western blotting. ***, P<0.001, compared to all. (C) ApoA-1 mediated cholesterol efflux. The cells were simultaneously loaded with 50 μg/ml of acetylated LDL and 0.2 μCi [³H] cholesterol. ApoA-1 mediated [³H] cholesterol efflux was determined as Method. ***, P<0.001, compared to the PC and scrambled shRNA transduced groups. (D) ADPF protein levels determined by Western blotting. ***, P<0.001, compared to the NC and β-COP shRNA transduced groups. ###, P<0.001, compared to the NC and β-COP shRNA transduced group. Data were the mean of five repeated experiments ± SEM (n = 5).