NFATc4 Regulates Sox9 Gene Expression in Acinar Cell Plasticity and Pancreatic Cancer Initiation

Figure 1

NFATc4 is induced in acinar cell transdifferentiation. (a) Light microscopy shows morphology of acinar cell extracts from wildtype mice in response to TGFα for the indicated time points (scale bar represents 100 μm). (b) qRT-PCR to detect mRNA expression of NFAT isoforms in transdifferentiating acinar cells of wildtype mice in response to TGFα. (c)-(d) NFATc4 mRNA (c) and protein (d) expression levels in Kras^G12D; ; EGFR^−/−; pdx1-Cre mice were determined after transient overexpression of a control vector or constitutive EGFR, respectively. NFATc4 mRNA expression following EGFR overexpression was normalized to control (means ± SD). (e) qRT-PCR reveals mRNA expression of NFAT isoforms in primary tumor cells from Kras^G12D; ; pdx1-Cre mice following TGF treatment for 24 hours. (f) Western Blot analysis in primary tumor cells from Kras^G12D; ; pdx1-Cre mice upon TGF treatment. -actin was utilized as a loading control. (g) Representative H&E staining and immunohistochemistry were performed in human chronic pancreatitis samples. Scale bar represents 100 μm. Asterisks indicate NFATc4 positive nuclei.

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