Figure 3.

TFF3 treatment of ex vivo fetal pancreas cultures: Effects on mRNA levels of markers of differentiation in islet cells and FBLCs. In the fetal ex vivo pancreas culture model, islet-cells sprouting from the underlying fibroblast-like cell layer (FBLCs) were separated from the FBLC layer by pipette suction, and RNA from the two cell populations were extracted. Messenger RNA levels were determined by qPCR in islet cells (A-C) and FBLCs (D-F). A, D) Insulin mRNA, B, E) Pref1 mRNA, C, F) Afp mRNA. Levels were normalized to Rpl13α mRNA. Statistical comparisons indicated by asterisks (*: p < 0.05, **: p < 0.01, ***: p < 0.001) are between the mRNA levels of the respective transcript with or without TFF3 in the culture medium for the indicated day. Statistical comparisons indicated by hatches (#: p < 0.05) are between the mRNA levels of the respective transcript at the first day of culture compared with the indicated day. Data are from three experiments performed in replicates of 3.