Functional Analysis of UTR Variants at the LDLR and PCSK9 Genes in Patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia

Figure 5

Comparison of the luciferase activity of UTR-PCSK9 variants using the luciferase reporter assay. The UTR-PCSK9 luciferase reporter construct WT (WT) or mutants (c.171), (c.234), and (c.950) were transfected in HepG2 cells. The luciferase activity of the cell lysates was then measured by luminescence. Each result corresponds to the deviation of the triplicate assays of the luciferase activity of the cell lysates of UTR-PCSK9 luciferase reporter construct WT (WT) or mutants: (c.171), (c.234), and (c.950). Statistical significance was determined by a Welch’s correction unpaired -test (2-sided) and a 95% confidence interval. The results were obtained from three independent experiments.