Overexpression of Caspase-1 in adenocarcinoma of pancreas and chronic pancreatitis

Figure 1 Immunohistochemical staining of pancreatic tissues using antiserum against human Caspase-1. A: Normal pancreas showed only occasional slight staining. B: Pancreatic cancer cells showed a clear cytoplasmatic immunoreactivity in 71%. C: Hyperplastic ducts in chronic pancreatitis tissues also showed cytoplasmatic staining in 87% of the tissues, whereas in atrophic acinar cells (D) a predominantly nuclear staining could be observed in 89%.

Figure 2 Western blot analysis of pancreatic tissues with anti-Caspase-1 antibody. The 45 kDa precursor of Caspase-1 was found in 86% of chronic pancreatitis samples (A, Lanes 3-8) and 80% of pancreatic cancer samples (B, Lanes 1-8). In 60% of cancer specimens and 14% of chronic pancreatitis tissue samples, the active 30 kDa p10-p20 heterodimer was found. In normal pancreatic tissues (A, lane 2), neither p45 precursor nor active Caspase-1 could be detected. Lane 1 (A) shows the positive control of THP 1 cells.