Pancreatic cancer and its stroma: A conspiracy theory

Figure 2 Pancreatic stellate cells are the source of collagen in stroma. A: A representative pair of serial sections of human pancreatic cancer tissue shows that Sirius Red staining for collagen (red) co-localises with immunohistochemical staining for α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) (brown), suggesting the presence of activated pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) in the stroma of pancreatic cancer[33]. Reprinted with permission from Wolters Kluwer Health (Apte et al[33]); B: Immunohistochemistry for α-SMA (brown) and in situ hybridisation for procollagen α1 mRNA (blue), reveals colocalisation of α-SMA and procollagen mRNA on human pancreatic cancer tissue indicating that active PSCs are the major source of collagen in tumour stroma. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier (Apte et al[43]).