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. 2015 Aug 7;10(8):e0134677. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134677

Fig 3. Human biliary tree stem cell (hBTSC) differentiation towards pancreatic fate induced in vitro by Pdx1 peptide.

Fig 3

(A) In HepG2 cells the insulin mRNA level was not affected by 14 days of 0.1 μM Pdx1 administration, while it increased significantly (average 6 folds) in hBTSCs cultured for 14 days in Kubota’s Medium (KM) containing 0.1 μM Pdx1in comparison with control medium (KM) (data are means ± SD of 6 experiments; ***p< 0.001). The effect of Pdx1 administration on hBTSCs was similar to treatment with a Hormonally Defined Medium for Pancreatic islet cell differentiation (HDM-P). PANC-1 cells and pancreatic islets (islets) were used as positive controls. (B, C) In hBTSCs cultured for 14 days in KM containing 0.1 μM Pdx1, the glucagon and somatostatin mRNA levels increased 6- (data are means ± SD of 6 experiments; ***p< 0.001) and 2-folds (data are means ± SD of 6 experiments; **p< 0.01), respectively, in comparison with KM. (D) In hBTSCs cultured for 14 days in KM containing 0.1 μM Pdx1, MafA (4.5-folds) (data are means ± SD of 6 experiments; **p< 0.01) or Pdx1 (2-folds) (data are means ± SD of 6 experiments; **p< 0.01) gene expression increased in comparison with KM, while EpCAM mRNA decreased (average 4-folds) (data are means ± SD of 6 experiments; *p< 0.05).