Figure 2.

Schwann cells increase the invasiveness of pancreatic cells and induce EMT in vitro. A and B. Representative images of wound healing assays showing that human SCs co-culture enhances the migration of MIA PaCa-2 and AsPC-1 cells, while hSCs conditioned medium (SCM) has no effect on the cell motility of MIA PaCa-2 and AsPC-1 cells. Medium supplemented with 1% FBS was used as a control. C and D. Representative images of Transwell migration and invasion assays showing that human SCs co-culture enhances the migration and invasion of MIA PaCa-2 and AsPC-1 cells, whereas human SCM has no such effects on MIA PaCa-2 and AsPC-1 cells. Medium containing 1% FBS was used as a control. Scale bar: 100 μm. E and F. Representative images of EdU proliferation assays showing that neither human SC co-culture nor human SCM affected the proliferation of MIA PaCa-2 and AsPC-1 cells in vitro. Scale bar: 50 μm. G. QRT-PCR analyses showing that human SC co-culture could downregulate CDH1 (E-cadherin) and upregulate the expression of CDH2 (N-cadherin) and EMT regulator SNAI1 simultaneously, indicating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of pancreatic cancer cells after co-cultivation with hSCs. Cancer cells were cultured in control medium (3% FBS/DMEM) or 70% human SCM (SCM: 10% FBS/DMEM = 7:3) or co-cultured with hSCs for 24 h. H. Immunoblotting analysis of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and Snail expression in tumor cells in response to human SCM incubation or hSCs co‑culture for 48 h. Cells cultured in control medium were used as a control. Loading control: GAPDH. I. Correlations between three Schwann cells markers (GFAP, S100, and SOX10) and EMT markers (CDH1, CDH2, VIM, SNAI1, SNAI2, ZEB1, ZEB2) in PDAC were acquired using the publicly available cBioportal tool (TCGA PanCancer Atlas). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.