PKCι regulates TGF-α-induced formation of metaplastic ducts.

<p>WT pancreatic acinar cells were embedded in collagen matrix with 50 ng/ml TGF-α. <b>A</b>) PKCι immunofluorescence (red) in explant cultures on days 1, 3, 5 and 7. PKCι was detected in ductal cells but not acinar cells. Cells were co-stained with DAPI (blue) to define cell nuclei. Scale bar, 50 µm. <b>B–C</b>) Quantitative analysis of TGF-α-induced duct formation in pancreatic explants in which PKCι is genetically or pharmacologically inhibited. <b>B</b>) Pancreatic acinar cells were isolated from <i>Prkci^f/f</i> mice, incubated with control, adeno-null virus (Ad-null) or adeno-Cre virus (Ad-Cre) and embedded in collagen ± TGF-α for 7 days. <b>C</b>) Pancreatic acinar cells isolated from WT mice were embedded in collagen ± TGFα and ±100 µM aurothiomalate (ATM) for 7 days. Plots are an average of three independent experiments. Bars = mean ± SEM and *<i>P</i><.05 versus TGF-α-treated control wells.