Figure 3
Knockout of Irak3 mitigates the pancreatic damage. AP was induced by hourly injection of Caerulein (Caer) over 8 h. (A) Scoring of H&E-stained pancreatic tissue sections showed significantly less tissue damage in Irak3−/− mice (n = 10–15 mice), (B) especially the number of necrotic cells was reduced in Irak3−/− mice. (C) Cell apoptosis, measured by TUNEL assay, and counting of TUNEL+ cell nuclei, also showed decreased numbers (n = 6–12 mice), (D) and the activity of serum lipase was also significantly reduced in Irak3−/− animals. (E) Trypsin activity was measured in pancreas homogenate and normalized to protein content (n = 6–15 mice). (F) Intracellular trypsin activity and necrosis ratio in response to 0.001 mM CCK was determined in living acinar cells over 60 min. No differences between wild type and Irak3−/− mice could be observed (n = 5). Significant differences for histology score, TUNEL, lipase activity and trypsin activity were tested using ANOVA followed by Bonferroni multiple comparison test, all other significant differences were tested using student’s t-test, all error bars indicate SEM. Significance level p < 0.05 is marked by an asterisk.
