Research Article
NFATc4 Regulates Sox9 Gene Expression in Acinar Cell Plasticity and Pancreatic Cancer Initiation
Figure 3
NFATc4 activation in metaplastic cells is associated with transcriptional induction of Sox9. (a) H&E staining as well as immunohistochemistry in 3-month-old KrasG12D; pdx1-Cre mice following a four-week spanning treatment with caerulein or DMSO. The black boxes beyond the immunohistochemical staining display representative magnifications of normal acinar cells (left boxes), ADM (right box for the control group, middle box for the caerulein-treated mice), and PanIN lesions (right boxes in the caerulein cohort). (b) qRT-PCR reveals Sox9 mRNA expression in acinar cell explants from wildtype mice following genetic depletion of NFATc4 and TGFα stimulation for 5 days. (c)-(d) Primary pancreatic tumor cells from KrasG12D; ; pdx1-Cre mice were treated with TGF for the indicated time points. mRNA expression of NFATc4 (c) and Sox9 (d) was determined by using qRT-PCR.
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