Fig. 7: Upregulation of the serotonin 2B (5-HT2B) receptor in pancreatic α cells during pregnancy.
a Immunofluorescence of human pancreatic sections (IHC-IF) from pregnant women at different gestational ages and a non-pregnant control sample. The 5-HT2B receptor signal is observed in α cells, overlapping with glucagon. Both α cells surrounding pancreatic ducts and those within islets are shown. The grayscale images represent the individual channels for the 5-HT2B receptor and glucagon. The composite merged image displays the co-localisation of the 5-HT2B receptor (green) and glucagon (yellow). Scale bar = 200 µm for the image overview and 20 µm for the magnified area in the inset. Representative images from five donors are shown; similar results were observed across the 14 biological replicates, each representing an independent human donor. b Signal intensity of the 5-HT2B receptor detected in α cells of pregnant women compared to non-pregnant controls. Symbols in each figure correspond to individual donors as indicated in Supp. Data S1. The pregnant group (n = 7 biological replicates) was compared to the non-pregnant control group (n = 7 biological replicates). Each biological replicate represents an independent human donor. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. Normally distributed data were analysed using a two-sided unpaired Student’s t-test; non-parametric data were analysed using a two-sided Mann–Whitney test. Exact P values for each comparison are shown in the figure. Statistical significance was defined as P < 0.05. *GA gestational age, wks weeks, non-preg non-pregnant.
