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. 2016 Sep 24;107(10):1443–1452. doi: 10.1111/cas.13024

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Effect of the calpain inhibitor calpeptin on s.c. xenograft tumors. Six‐week‐old nude mice were injected with SW1990 cells and immortalized pancreatic stellate cells (iPSCs) in the right flank and SW1990 cells only in the left flank. Calpeptin or DMSO was given i.p. three times a week during the experiment. On day 35, the mice (n = 5, each experiment) were killed. (a) Images of xenograft tumors formed 5 weeks after the injection of pancreatic cancer cells (PCCs) only or PCCs and pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs). The right panel charts the xenograft tumor burden. Calpeptin decreased xenograft tumor weight in the co‐implantation groups. (b) Time course of tumor growth. (c) Histological evaluation of desmoplastic activity and cell proliferative status in PCCs and PCCs co‐implanted with PSCs with or without calpeptin treatment. Calpeptin treatment reduced interstitial tumor tissues in the co‐implantation group as assessed by Sirius red staining (c, d), immunohistochemistry of α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA) (c, e), and periostin (c, f). (c, g) Calpeptin decreased the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) index in tumors containing SW1990 cells co‐implanted with PSCs. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001. Scale bar = 100 μm.