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. 2013 Oct 24;8(10):e78483. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078483

Figure 5. Insulin+/glucagon+ cells do not reflect mature endocrine cells.

Figure 5

Recent onset diabetic NOD pancreata treated with Ab/IL-2 were processed and stained for insulin (red), glucagon (green), DAPI (blue) and mature endocrine markers, Brn4, Pdx1, or Nkx6.1 (white). (A) Staining for Brn4, a transcription factor expressed in mature alpha cells, showed expression in glucagon+ (arrowhead) and insulin+/glucagon+ (arrow) cells. (B) Staining for Pdx1, a beta cell specific transcription factor, showed weak expression in insulin+/glucagon+ (arrow) cells, as well some hormone negative cells (arrowhead). (C) Staining for Nkx6.1 showed only weak or absent nuclear staining (arrows) in insulin+/glucagon+ cells, as well as abnormal cytoplasmic staining (arrowhead). (D) Graph represents quantitation of the percent of insulin+/glucagon+ cells that also express nuclear Brn4, Pdx1 or Nkx6.1 (n=97+ insulin+/glucagon+ cells analyzed per transcription factor, from n≥4 individual samples).