Fig. 9

Pentoxifylline attenuated the IL-6 mediated increase of phosphorylated STAT3 in 5-FU-treated PDOs. a Graphs showing the levels of total and phosphorylated pSTAT3 (tyr705) detected by ELISA as indicated in the methods, from PDO#1 and PDO#4 treated with ctrl or 5-FU. Average of four independent experiments. b,c STAT3 inhibition by pentoxifylline affected the ALDHhigh cell number and the expression of ALDH1A3. Lower panels. Histograms reporting the percentage of ALDHhigh cells as assessed by flow cytometry in the same samples treated as in figure b, upper panels. Statistics: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; no asterisk: not significant. c QRT-PCR was performed to assess the mRNA levels of he indicated ALDH isoforms in PDO#1 and PDO#4 cultures treated as shown for 24 h. Histograms show the folds above ctrl. The average of two independent experiments is reported. Statistics: * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01