Fig. 1: Lin28b could be highly expressed in CAFs of PDAC.

a IHC was performed on a PDAC patient TMA with LIN28B antibody. High expression of LIN28B (LIN28B^high) and low expression of LIN28B (LIN28B^low) in tissues was shown. Scale bar: 30 μm. b Survival curves for PDAC patients with high (red) or low (blue) levels of LIN28B. Statistical analysis was performed using two-sided Gehan-Breslow-Wilcoxon test; P = 0.0139; n = 80 patients. c Percentages of total population of patients (n = 80) or of patients at each pathological stage (stage I; n = 35, stage II; n = 20, stage III; n = 12, stage IV; n = 13) and histological T status (T1; n = 13, T2; n = 42, T3-4; n = 25) expressing high (red) or low (blue) levels of LIN28B. d Correlation between LIN28B IHC scores in stroma and tumors (Pearson product-moment correlation test; r = 0.9962, p < 0.001). e Immunofluorescence was performed on the PDAC patient TMA using LIN28B, α-SMA, and CK19 antibodies. Representative images from LIN28B^high hPDAC and LIN28B^low hPDAC were shown. Scale bar: 30 μm. f, g The levels of Lin28b in 14837T, 14838T, and 15376T were measured by real-time qPCR (f) and western blotting (g). P-value by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test. Representative of n  =  3 independent experiments (g). h Orthotopic PDAC tumors generated with 14837T, 14838T, or 15376T were analyzed by Lin28b, α-SMA, and CK19 immunofluorescence staining (n = 6 mice). Representative images are shown. Scale bar: 30 μm. i Lin28b^high PDAC tumors were stained for Lin28b, Fap (i), and α-SMA (j) (n = 6 mice). Representative images are shown. Scale bar: 30 μm. Three biologically independent experiments were performed (f). Data are shown as mean ± s.d.