Figure 3. Therapeutic ADAM12 vaccination limits the growth of subcutaneous pancreatic carcinoma.

(A) Scheme of therapeutic vaccination on subcutaneous KP2 PDAC tumor-bearing mice. (B) Time course of tumor volume (in mm³) of KP2 PDAC allografts upon the first prime vaccination (day 21). (n = 8 mice in v-CTRL, n = 9 mice in v-A12, * indicates p = 0.0222, Statistical test: unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test.). (C) KP2 PDAC tumor volume at the endpoint day 35. (n = 8 mice in v-CTRL, n = 9 mice in v-A12. Data were presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical test: unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test.). (D, E) Quantitative analysis of ADAM12-positive area (D, upper) (ADAM12 antibody, Invitrogen, PA5-50594) and collagen deposition (E, upper) on tumor sections of KP2 PDAC allografts treated with v-CTRL and v-A12 and representative images of ADAM12 immunostaining (D, bottom) and Sirius Red/Fast Green staining (E, bottom). (n = 7–8 mice in v-CTRL, n = 9 mice in v-A12. Data were presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical test: unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test. Scale bar 100 μm). (F) Quantitative analysis of tubule area on PDAC tumors treated with v-CTRL and v-A12 (upper), and representative images of image segmentation strategy (bottom). (n = 8 mice in v-CTRL, n = 9 mice in v-A12. Data were presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical test: unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test. Scale bar 50 μm). (G) Quantitative analysis of CD4⁺ T cell population at the edge of PADC tumor tissue (left) and interior of PDAC tissue (right). (n = 7 mice in v-CTRL, n = 8 mice in v-A12. Data were presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical test: unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test. Scale bar 100 μm). (H) Quantitative analysis of CD8⁺ T cell population at the edge of PADC tumor tissue (left) and interior of PDAC tissue (right). (n = 8 mice in v-CTRL, n = 9 mice in v-A12. Data were presented as mean ± SEM. Statistical test: unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test. Scale bar 100 μm). Source data are available online for this figure.