Fig. 3

Differential expression of C4BPA and CD40 in human PDAC cell lines and PDAC tissues. a Western blot analysis of C4BPA and CD40 expression in various human PDAC cell lines, including cell lines of primary PDAC (BxPC-3, MIA PaCa-2, PANC-1, Capan-2), metastatic ascites (AsPC-1), lymph node metastasis (Hs766T), and PDAC liver metastases (CFPAC-1, Capan-1). b Western blot analysis of C4BPA protein expression in resected PDAC tissues. T: tumor tissues, N: adjacent normal pancreatic tissues. c CD40 expression was decreased by the CD40-specific siRNAs in PANC-1 and Capan-2 cells. The expressions of representative EMT markers, E-cadherin, Vimentin, N-cadherin, and Snail did not alter in CD40-knockdown PANC-1 and Capan-2 cells. d CD40 knockdown impairs cell proliferation in PDAC cells. Cell proliferation was significantly decreased in CD40-knockdown PANC-1 and Capan-2 cells (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, Welch’s t-test). rhC4BPA stimulation (at day 2) significantly increased cell proliferation in cell lines highly expressing CD40, including PANC-1 (*P < 0.05, Welch’s t-test) and Capan-2 (**P < 0.01, Welch’s t-test). However, proliferation in CD40 knockdown cells was unchanged (not significant, Welch’s t-test). Experiments were performed three times independently. Error bars represent the SD. ns, not significant.