Quantitative PCR reactions were carried out using SYBR green PCR master mix (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) in an ABI Prism 7900HT Sequence Detection System. Values were quantified using the comparative CT method, and samples were normalized to 18S ribosomal RNA. Liver tissue was homogenized with choline/acetylcholine assay buffer (Abcam, Cambridge, UK) and the homogenate centrifuged at 18,000g for 20 minutes. The supernatant Gefitinib order was subjected to determination of choline levels with the Choline/Acetylcholine Assay kit (Abcam). Protein was measured with the Micro BCA Protein Assay kit (Thermo Fisher

Scientific, Waltham, MA). Choline levels were normalized to total protein. Quantification of serum lysophosphatidylcholine was performed according to a reported method.21 Serum sphingomyelin levels were www.selleckchem.com/products/NVP-AUY922.html estimated with the Sphingomyelin Assay Kit (Cayman, Ann Arbor, MI). Hepatic N-stearoyl-D-erythro-sphingosine (C18-ceramide) and N-palmitoyl-D-erythro-sphingosine (C16-ceramide) levels were determined as described below. Liver tissue (20 mg) was homogenized with 600 μL of methanol:CHCl3 (2:1) solution including N-palmitoyl (D31)-D-erythro-sphingosine (Avanti Polar Lipids, Alabaster, AL) as internal standard, and sonicated. To the homogenate was added 400 μL of CHCl3, followed by vortexing for 2 minutes, addition of 400 μL 0.1M HCl, and vortexing for 2

minutes. The homogenate was centrifuged for 10 minutes and 200 μL of the organic phase was transferred to a new glass tube and dried with air. The pellet was suspended with a 79% methanol/20% water/1% formic acid solution and sonicated. Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for ceramide detection was performed based on a reported method.22 Briefly, the sonicated samples were separated on a Phenomenex 2.1 × 100 mm Luna 3μ C18 column (Torrance, CA) using the following gradient: (A:B) 80:20

for 1 minute to 100% B at 5 minutes, held for 15 minutes, then equilibration at 80:20 for 1.5 minutes. The mobile phase consisted of (A) methanol-water-formic acid (74:25:1) MCE and (B) methanol-formic acid (99:1). Both A and B were also buffered with 5 mM ammonium formate. The LC-MS system consisted of a PE series 200 LC pump and auto-injector (Perkin Elmer, Waltham, MA) coupled to an API2000 mass spectrometer (Applied Biosystems) operated in positive electrospray ionization mode. Multiple reaction monitoring was performed: 538.5264.3 for C16-ceramide, 566.5264.3 for C18-ceramide, and 569.7264.2 for the internal standard. C16- and C18-ceramides were determined with the authentic chemicals (Avanti Polar Lipids) and the quantification was performed with standard curve. Primary hepatocytes were prepared based on a reported method.23 Cells were exposed to TGF-β for 6 hours, collected, and lysed for RNA analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using Prism v. 5.0c (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA). A P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.