Fig. 7: Serpinb9-mimic peptides targeting SMS treatment suppress pancreatic cancer progression and improve ICB efficacy.
From: Targeting spermine metabolism to overcome immunotherapy resistance in pancreatic cancer
a Computational design workflow for Serpinb9-mimic peptides targeting SMS. b Co-IP and western blotting analysis showing the interaction between HA-tagged SMS and Flag-tagged Serpinb9. c, d Heatmap of relative SMS levels in pancreatic cancer cell lines (BxPC-3, KPC) treated with a concentration and time gradient of Pep2 or Pep4. e Statistical analysis of relative extracellular spermine levels in BxPC-3 and KPC cells treated with Pep2 or Pep4 (n = 3 biologically independent samples). f Statistical analysis of relative SMS levels in KPC tumors treated with Pep4 (n = 5 mice). g Statistical analysis of relative spermine concentrations in TIF from KPC tumors treated with Pep4 (n = 5 mice). h, i Tumor growth curves and weights from mice treated with Pep4, αPD-1, or their combination (n = 5 mice). j Changes in body weights of mice in each group (n = 5 mice). k Representative t-SNE images and statistical results of CD8+ T cells by flow cytometry (n = 5 mice). l Representative mIHC staining and quantification of CD8, GZMB, CD206, and Foxp-3 (n = 5 mice). Scale bars = 20 μm. For b–d, n = 3 biologically independent samples. For e data were presented as mean ± S.D., n = 3 biologically independent samples. For f–l data were presented as mean ± S.D., n = 5 biologically independent samples. Statistical significance was determined using two-sided unpaired Student’s t-test or one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
