Figure 1.
L-carnitine related parameters in muscle cells. L-carnitine content, transport and OCTN2 mRNA levels were determined in control and DMD patient cell treated (or not) with 500 µM of L-carnitine.
Results are presented as histograms. Each histogram represented the means +/− sem of 7 independent determinations. Control cells were represented by white histogram, control cells treated with L-carnitine by light grey histogram, DMD cells by dark grey histogram and L-carnitine treated DMD cells by a black histogram. Statistical differences between samples are indicated by letters on top of the histograms. Two identical letters placed indicated a significant difference between the two samples (p<0.05). (A) L-carnitine content was determined in cultured muscle cells and L-carnitine content was expressed in nmol per mg of protein. (B) L-carnitine uptake was determined in cultured cells and expressed in fmol of L-carnitine transported per hour and per mg of protein. (C) OCTN2 mRNA levels were determined by RT-q-PCR. The amount was normalized and expressed relatively to control cells.
Table 1.
Cholesterol content and Fatty acid composition of phospholipids in control, treated and patient muscle cells.
Table 2.
mRNA expression for mitochondrial and peroxisomal metabolisms of fatty acids.
Figure 2.
Appreciation of plasma membrane fluidity of normal and patient cells through DPH fluorescence anisotropy measurement (r).
Fluorescence anisotropy was measured at (▪) 37°C and (□) 4°C. An Increase in r value represented an increase in plasma membrane rigidity and so a decrease in fluidity. The means of at least three independent measurements were calculated and the 95% confidence intervals of the means are presented. Two identical letters placed above the histogram indicated a significant difference between the two samples. Control and DMD cells were either untreated or treated with 500 µM of L-carnitine.