Fig. 9.

Combined treatment of Panc-1-luci/PSC orthotopic xenografts. a Scheme of combination therapy. The desmoplastic pancreatic orthotopic xenografts were established by co-inoculation of luciferase-expressing Panc-1 cells (Panc-1-luci) and PSCs into the pancreatic tails of BALB/c nude mice. The mice received Au@PP/RA/siHSP47 intravenously every 2 days for three injections and subsequently received gemcitabine intravenously every 2 days for five injections. b Body weight changes of mice during treatment. c In vivo whole-body bioluminescence images of mice on days 15, 18, 21, 26 and 31. d Tumour growth curves as determined by quantification analysis of the in vivo bioluminescence signal. e Image of excised tumours with spleens. Scale bar, 1 cm. f Tumour weights after treatment. g Histological studies with H&E and immunohistochemical staining of PCNA in tumour sections. Scale bars, 50 μm. h Quantification of PCNA-positive tumour cells. The data are shown as the mean ± s.d. (n = 3). ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001 (Student’s t test)