Fig. 2.

Incorporation of the fluorescent cholesterol analog into the plasmalemma of Xenopus laevis oocytes. The incorporation of cholesterol into the Xenopus laevis oocytes plasmalemma was monitored as function of time using DOPC liposomes enriched with the fluorescent cholesterol analog [(22-(N-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino-22,23-bisnor-5-cholen-3-ol)]. The same incubation procedure employed to increase the oocytes membrane cholesterol concentration was used with the liposomes enriched with the fluorescent cholesterol analog and the incorporation was monitored through confocal microscopy. a Circular inserts (200 µm in diameter) of the oocytes plasmalemma display the incorporation of the fluorescent cholesterol as function of incubation time. Scale bar: 20 µm. The image displays a single optical slice acquired at a magnification of × 10. b Fluorescence intensity histograms highlight the increase in the fluorescence of the cholesterol analog in the oocytes plasma membrane as function of incubation time. The z-axis corresponds to the fluorescent intensity (a.u.), whereas the x- and y-axis correspond to spatial coordinates. c The cholesterol enrichment strategy was revalidated by the increase in fluorescence intensity of the fluorescent cholesterol analog in the oocytes plasmalemma upon incubation with cholesterol-rich DOPC liposomes (One-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post-test, 15 min P < 0.05; 30 min P < 0.01; 45 min P < 0.01; n = 5)