Fig 4. ER stress, intra-islet HSPG core protein and HS expression in Ins2^WT/C96Y islets.

Fold change in the expression of ER stress-related genes (A) Bip, p58 and (B) Chop, Atf3 in 5–12 week male Ins2^WT/WT control islets (open circles) and Ins2^WT/C96Y islets (black squares) was normalized to the house-keeping gene Gapdh. Morphometric analysis of immunostained intra-islet HSPG core proteins and HS in Ins2^WT/WT (open bars) and Ins2^WT/C96Y (shaded bars) pancreases at 4, 5, 6 and 9 weeks (HSPGs) and 6 weeks (HS). Data is presented as the % islet area with positive staining for (C) COL18, (D) SDC1, (E) CD44 and (F) HS. Data represent mean ± SEM for (A-B) n = 4 independent experiments (250–350 islets/group/experiment) and (C-F) n = 3 pancreases/age group with n = 15–31 islets examined/group; each symbol denotes an individual islet. *p<0.05, **p<0.001 and ***p<0.0001, Mann-Whitney test.