Figure 7. LDHA inhibition ameliorates the fibrotic and immunosuppressive TME in orthotopic PDAC mouse models.

(A) Measurement of the lactate concentration in tumors from the vehicle- or FX11-treated group (n = 6). (B) Weights of tumors from the vehicle- or FX11-treated groups (n = 6). (C) The IL-6 concentration in tumor lysates from vehicle- or FX11-treated mice (n = 6). (D) Representative images of αSMA immunohistochemical staining and quantification of the αSMA-positive cell area in the vehicle or FX11 group (n = 15). (E) Representative images of Masson’s trichrome staining and quantification of the blue-stained collagen fiber area in the vehicle or FX11 group (n = 15). (F and G) Representative images of CD3 (F) and CD8 (G) immunohistochemical staining and quantification of the number of CD3⁺ (F) or CD8⁺ (G) lymphocytes in tumors from the vehicle- or FX11-treated group (n = 15). Scale bars: 100 µm. (H–J) Flow cytometric analysis for quantification of the percentages of CD3⁺CD8⁺ T cells in CD45⁺ cells (H), GraB⁺ cells in CD3⁺CD8⁺ T cells (I), and IFN-γ⁺ cells in CD3⁺CD8⁺ T cells (J) infiltrated into tumors treated with vehicle control or FX11 (n = 4). Box plots show the interquartile range (box), median (line), and minimum and maximum (whiskers). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01. A Student’s t test was used to compare continuous variables between 2 groups. One-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple-comparison test was used to compare multiple groups.