Fig. 5

Increased expression of the EMT-related proteins in PANC-1 TSs under PSC co-culture conditions. a Changes in the expression levels of E-cadherin, vimentin, α-SMA, TGF-β1 and β-catenin as determined by immunofluorescence and western blot analysis. b Increased expression of Ki-67 under PSC co-culture conditions. Immunofluorescence staining was performed on cryo-sections of TSs following 7 days of culture. Optical sections were acquired at 1 μm intervals and stacked into a z-projection. Fluorescence intensity was measured from whole section of spheroid cultures and normalized by DAPI intensity. Individual TSs were shown in the insert. Data represent the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. Scale bars: 50 μm. * p < 0.05, **p < 0.01***p < 0.001