Figure 6

Reducing cellular cholesterol affects homodimerization and G protein coupling. (a) HEK cells were transfected with CFPOPRM1 and YFPOPRM1 or transfected with CFPC170A and YFPC170A for 24 h. These cells were than treated with PBS (Control), 0.5 μM simvastatin (Simva), or 0.5 μM simvastatin with 20 ng/ml cholesterol (Simva+Chol) for 12 h. The FRET was analyzed to determine the amount of homodimer. (b) HEK cells were transfected with CFPOPRM1 and YFPGαi2 or transfected with CFPC170A and YFPGαi2 for 24 h. These cells were than treated as in (a) and G protein coupling was determined with FRET. One-way ANOVA with Dunnett's test was used. The error bars and "*" represent the standard deviations and significant changes (p < 0.05, n > 3), respectively.