Niemann-Pick C1 protects against atherosclerosis in mice via regulation of macrophage intracellular cholesterol trafficking
J. Clin. Invest. Jessie R. Zhang, et al. 118:2281 doi:10.1172/JCI32561 [Go to this article.]

Figure 6
Npc1^–/– macrophages are deficient in production of endogenous oxysterol ligands. (A) Production of 27-HC and cholestenoic acid in macrophages harvested from high-fat diet–fed MϕNpc1^+/+ and MϕNpc1^–/– chimeric mice. Macrophages were cultured in lipoprotein-deficient medium followed by overnight incubation with 50 μg/ml AcLDL. Lipids were extracted from media, and cells and oxysterols were measured by GC/MS. Data are mean ± SEM and are representative of 2 independent experiments. (B) Plasma oxysterol levels in high-fat diet–fed MϕNpc1^+/+ and MϕNpc1^–/– chimeric mice. Sera from 5–6 animals per genotype were pooled and analyzed by GC/MS. Data are mean ± SEM of triplicate determinations and are representative of 2 independent experiments. *P < 0.05 versus MϕNpc1^+/+.