Fig. 2

Notch1 signaling mediates gemcitabine-induced stemness. PANC-1 and Patu8988 cells were pretreated with 10 μM DAPT for 24 h and then treated with gemcitabine. (a) The expression levels of Bmi1, Sox2, and NICD1 were determined by Western blot analysis. (b) The representative expression level of the pancreatic CSC marker CD24 as well as (c) the change in the proportion of CD24⁺ pancreatic CSCs were determined by FCM. (d-f) The ability of the cells for sphere formation after treatment was determined by the sphere-forming assay: (d) Representative image of spheres formed after treatment; (e, f) Charts showing the data on sphere number and size. The results presented are from three independent assays. Scale bar, 50 μm. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001