Fig. 5

AATK overexpression in pancreatic cancer cell lines increased apoptosis and downregulated proliferation. a Apoptosis was detected by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay in the Panc-04.03 PDA cell line. b Staining for proliferation marker Ki67 was performed in cell lines with and without an AATK overexpression plasmid. Statistical assessment was based on a t-test (TUNEL assay) and Fisher’s exact test (cell count of cells positively stained for the proliferation marker by immunofluorescence assay). c, d Quantification of (a) and (b), respectively. e Cell apoptosis analysis by double staining of propidium iodine and Hoechst 33342 and quantification by flow cytometry. f AATK-GFP expression in transient transfection in PANC-1, PANC-04.03, and Colo-357 cell lines (left panel) and in selection for stable AATK-GFP expression clones of PANC-1 cell line. g The growth curve of PDA cells with AATK overexpression compared to mock transfection in AsPC-1, BxPC-3, PANC-1, and MIA PaCa-2 PDA cells