Fig. 7

Stroma modulation in Panc-1/PSC subcutaneous xenografts. a Scheme of different treatment formulations for stroma modulation. The desmoplastic pancreatic subcutaneous xenografts were established by co-inoculation of Panc-1 and PSCs in BALB/c nude mice. Various formulations (ATRA: 2.4 mg/kg; siRNA: 0.97 mg/kg) were given intravenously every 2 days for three injections. b Body weight changes of mice during treatment. c Tumour growth curves during treatment. d Western blot analysis of HSP47 protein in tumours. e Quantitative analysis of the normalised HSP47 protein expression in tumours (using Image J software). f Histological studies with H&E, trichrome staining of collagen and immunohistochemical staining of HSP47 and fibronectin in tumour sections. Scale bars, 50 μm. g–i Quantitative analysis of the normalised HSP47 (g), collagen (h) and fibronectin (i) protein levels (using Image J software). The data are shown as the mean ± s.d. (n = 3). ^*p < 0.05, ^**p < 0.01, ^***p < 0.001 (Student’s t test)