Figure 3From: Selective reconstitution of liver cholesterol biosynthesis promotes lung maturation but does not prevent neonatal lethality in Dhcr7 null micePooled plasma sterol analyses from neonatal pups. Sterol levels in three pooled plasma samples (9 pups per genotype, pooled by combining samples from 3 pups) collected from animals of each genotype. Plasma cholesterol levels (mg/dl) in WT, Dhcr7-/-Tg- and Dhcr7-/-Tg+ neonates were 71.7 ± 5.68, 13.5 ± 1.3 and 33.7 ± 10.4, respectively (Panel A). 7/8DHC (mg/dl) was 0.12 ± 0.04 in WT plasma and a massive accumulation of 7/8DHC was found in Dhcr7-/-Tg- (10.5 ± 1.8). 7/8DHC level in Dhcr7-/-Tg+ plasma (5.7 ± 0.7) was ~50 % of Dhcr7-/-Tg- level, but still ~47-fold higher than WT level (Panel B). The percent of sterol precursors appeared to be dramatically reduced in Dhcr7-/-Tg+ plasma (19.5 ± 7.6 %), compared to Dhcr7-/-Tg- mice (77.6 ± 13.6 %) (Panel C). And total sterols (mg/dl) in WT, Dhcr7-/-Tg- and Dhcr7-/-Tg+ neonates were 71.8 ± 5.67, 23.9 ± 2.62 and 39.3 ± 10.1, respectively. Results are expressed as mean ± SD.Back to article page