Fig. 3

Pharmacological inhibition of autophagy reduces pancreatic CSC activity. a The expression of LC3, ALDH1, CD44, and CD133 in PANC-1 cells after 24 h of CQ, rapamycin (Rapa) and combination treatment was analyzed by flow cytometry. The graphs indicate the percentage ± SE of LC3⁺/ALDH1⁺ cells (upper) and CD44⁺/CD133⁺ cells (lower). b The enzymatic activity of ALDH1 in PANC-1 cells after 24 h of CQ, Rapa, and combination treatment was measured by ALDEFLUOR assay. The graph indicates the percentage ± SE of ALDEFLUOR⁺ cells in PANC-1 cells. c The bright field images reveal the sphere formation of PANC-1 cells after 14 days of culture in ultra-low attachment plates with CQ, Rapa, and combination treatment. The number of spheres was calculated and presented as mean ± SE. NS, not significant; *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001 compared to controls