Fig. 4. Increased AGO2 expression during mouse and human PDAC progression.
a Representative images of AGO2 IHC analysis within an individual AGO2+/+;KRASG12D;p48Cre mouse showing increased AGO2 expression in PDAC and metastasis compared with PanIN lesions. Arrows point to PanIN, PDAC, or metastatic PDAC in respective panels. In the metastasis panel, N = normal liver and T = tumor. Scale bar, 40 µm. b Representative images of IHC analysis for AGO2 expression in human PDAC progression showing elevated AGO2 protein expression in PDAC and metastatic tissue. Lower panels show higher magnifications of areas marked in the upper panels. Scale bars in the top and bottom panels are 200 and 80 µm, respectively. Arrows point to PanIN and PDAC. c Box and scatter plot showing AGO2 expression on a human tissue microarray (TMA) containing 44 human pancreatic tissue samples (24 precancerous, 14 PDAC, and six metastatic PDAC lesions), as determined by IHC analysis. Each sample was scored for intensity of stain and percent tumor cells staining for AGO2, and the final score = intensity × percent positive cells. p values were determined using a two sided t-test. Data are presented as mean values +/−SEM.