Pdx1 effects on cell viability and Pdx1 internalization.

<p>(A) hBTSCs and HepG2 were exposed to different concentrations of Pdx1 (0.1 μM or 0.5 μM). Incubation with 0.1 μM Pdx1 determined the preservation of cell viability. When cells were treated with 0.5 μM Pdx1, cell viability significantly decreased after 48 hours in both hBTSCs and HepG2 as observed by Trypan blue exclusion assay (data are means ± SD of 6 experiments; **p< 0.01; ***p< 0.001). (B) After 24 hours of treatment with 0.1 μM Pdx1 recombinant protein, Western Blot analyses showed the presence of Pdx1 recombinant protein (His-Tagged protein) in treated hBTSCs and HepG2. The densitometry histograms showed an equal amount of His-Tagged protein in hBTSCs and HepG2 cells treated with 0.1 μM Pdx1 (data are means ± SD of 3 experiments). (C) Immunofluorescence analysis showed the internalization and nuclear translocation of His-Tagged recombinant protein (red nuclei) in treated cells. Nuclei are displayed in blue (DAPI). Original Magnification = 20X left image or 40X right images.