Real-time RT-PCR determination of caveolins mRNA levels in SM-enriched adipocytes or unmodulated adipocytes.

a The control group was expressed as 1. P<0.0001 and P<0.05; SM-, GSH-, and PPMP-treated cells compared with untreated cells. 3T3-F442A adipocytes were treated with 30 μM exogenous natural SM (SM-LA, 24 h), 10 mM GSH (24 h), 20 μM PPMP (24 h) or vehicle. The results are expressed as-fold variation over respective controls (R) after normalization to β-actin, as indicated in the Materials and methods. R values greater than or equal to 2 were considered positive regulation of gene expression, whereas values lower than 0.5 indicated negative regulation. The results presented are the means of 3 independent experiments, which were performed twice each in duplicate.