Secreted PCSK9 decreases the number of LDL receptors in hepatocytes and inlivers of parabiotic mice
J. Clin. Invest. Thomas A. Lagace, et al. 116:2995 doi:10.1172/JCI29383 [Go to this article.]

Figure 1
Pulse-chase analysis of endogenous PCSK9 secretion from HepG2 cells. Cells were cultured in sterol-depleting medium C for 18 hours prior to labeling for 30 minutes with [³⁵S]methionine/cysteine. After washing, cells were incubated in chase medium containing unlabeled methionine and cysteine for the indicated times. Cells were lysed, and PCSK9 was immunoprecipitated from the medium and cell lysates as described in Methods. Samples were subjected to 8% SDS-PAGE, and the gel was treated with Amplify fluorogenic reagent prior to drying and exposure to film. P and C denote the proprotein and cleaved forms of PCSK9, respectively. Similar results were obtained in 4 independent experiments.