Fig. 5. Reduction of cholesterol synthesis in mutant COCs and WT OOX cumulus cells. Cholesterol synthesis was measured as incorporation of [¹⁴C]acetate into cholesterol during culture. (A) A representative TLC image comparing radiolabeled cholesterol (indicated by arrow) in WT (lane1), Bmp15^-/- (lane 2) and DM (lane 3) COCs. (B) Quantitative comparison of [¹⁴C]cholesterol levels in WT and mutant COCs. (C) A representative TLC image showing relative [¹⁴C]cholesterol (indicated by arrow) levels in WT cumulus cells of COCs (lane1), OOX cumulus cells (lane 2) and OOX cumulus cells + oocytes (lane 3). (D) Quantitative comparison of [¹⁴C]cholesterol levels in WT cumulus cells of COCs, OOX cumulus cells and OOX cumulus cells + oocytes. All experiments were repeated at least three times independently. Data are presented as mean of relative fold change compared with control (WT in panels B, CC/COC in panels D) ± s.e.m. Bars indicated with different letters are significantly different, P<0.05.