Fig. 7: NFIC restrains the formation of preneoplastic lesions in the pancreas.

A IHC analysis of NFIC expression shows down-regulation in PanINs (right) and tumor cells compared to adjacent normal acinar cells (left) (one representative image of 5 replicates is shown, scale bar = 5 μm). B NFIC mRNA analysis of tumor samples and normal adjacent tissue assessed by microarrays³⁹ showing reduced expression in tumor samples (n = 14 for normal tissue and n = 118 for tumor, P = e-12, two-tailed Mann–Whitney U-test). C, D IHC analysis of NFIC expression in human PDAC specimens showing reduced expression in tumoral cells (arrow) compared to normal adjacent tissue or stromal cells (arrowheads) (n = 56 for normal; n = 25 for PanIN1-2; n = 9 for PanIN-3; n = 43 for tumor; scale bar = 5 μm). Two-tailed Mann–Whitney U-test; PanIN1-2 vs. Normal, P = 1.666e-12; PanIN3 vs. Normal, P = 0.000004; Tumor vs. Normal, P = 2.2e-16. E, F Histological analysis of the pancreas of 14–20 week-old Kras ^G12Vor Kras; ^G12VNfic^-/- mice showing increased number of PanINs and of the relative area occupied by pre-neoplastic lesions (n ≥ 6/genotype, scale bar = 20 μm). Two-tailed Mann–Whitney U-test; in F (# PanIN P = 0.0007; affected area P = 0.007). D, F Boxplots show the minimum, the maximum, the sample median, and the first and third quartiles. P < 0.05 (*), P < 0.01 (**). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.