Fig. 1.

Investigation of blood vessel compression in patients and mice and experimental setup. A) Immunofluorescent staining for CD31 (red, pseudocolor) and nuclei (blue) in tumor section obtained from PDAC patient. Scale bar = 100 μm. B) Immunohistochemical staining for CD31 (red) and nuclei (light blue) in tumor section obtained from mice co-injected with Panc-1/PSC (left) or MiaPaCa-2/PSC (right). Scale bar = 100 μm. C) Schematic representation of the 3D model design and experimental setup, highlighting the fibrinogen-mediated activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) in the center part of the model and the mechanisms causing compression of a central endothelialized channel while the PSCs in the collagen compartment remain quiescent not causing compression (CAF = cancer-associated fibroblast). D) Schematic representation of the process to generate multi-layered collagen/Col/Fib constructs (PDMS = Polydimethylsiloxane).