Figure 4

Ceramide mediates [Ca²⁺] _ER depletion through inhibition of SERCA expression. (A) ACC-M and ACC-2 cells were loaded with Ca²⁺-sensitive probe Fluo 4-AM. Changes in fluo-4 fluorescence were determined using confocal video microscopy. As shown in the representative images, perfusion with 100 μM ceramide induced increases in [Ca²⁺]_ER depletion in ACCs. (B) Cells were treated with 100 μM ceramide for 12 h, Relative mRNA expression levels for SERCA2α, SERCA2β and SERCA3 were calculated by normalizing to GAPDH. The figure presents mean fold over control change in experimental groups ± S.D. *P < 0.05 (one-way ANOVA).