Figure 4. Ca2+ mobilization is suppressed in acini from poly(I:C) treated mice.
C57BL/6 mice were either treated with poly(I:C) or PBS and submandibular glands were removed for acinar cell preparation. Cells were loaded with fura-2 AM and one set of cells were loaded with Cell Tracker Red. Following 30 min incubation, cells were washed, placed in recording chamber and calcium changes recorded following exposure to 5 μM of pilocarpine-hydrochloride. The data shown is mean ratio (340/380nm) ± SEM from 5 independent experiments with 70 acini from PBS treated mice and 64 acini from poly(I:C) treated mice. The panel on left shows the whole trace. The differences in baseline between poly(I:C) and PBS treated mice were statistically not significant. The right panel shows baseline subtracted mean ratio ± SEM seen at maximum stimulation. The mean Ca2+ 340/380nm ratio in acini from poly(I:C) treated mice is significantly lower (p=0.0003) than that observed in acini from PBS treated mice.