PCSK9-D374Y Suppresses Hepatocyte Migration through Downregulating Free Cholesterol Efflux Rate and Activity of Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase

Figure 3

Effects of PCSK9 overexpression on free cholesterol transport in HepG2 cells. (a–c) Effects of PCSK9 overexpression on cholesterol transport in HepG2 cells. (a) and (b) show peaks in the flow cytometry chart, indicating deviations of the mean FI curve during cholesterol efflux. Black line: background FI in HepG2 cells, green line: results of incubation with NBD-cholesterol for 3 h (i.e., the starting time point of cholesterol efflux), and red line: results of HDL treatment for 2 h following 3 h of inoculation with fluorescence cholesterol. FI: fluorescence intensity. The entire assay lasted 5 h. FI indicates the content of fluorescent-labeled cholesterol inside cells. NC: pcDNA3.1; D374Y: pcDNA3.1-PCSK9-D374Y. (c) is the bar chart for cholesterol efflux rate. At least three independent flow cytometry experiments were conducted with triplicate items. The bar chart is shown as mean with SEM. .

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