FIGURE 8: AuNPs inhibit the expression of cancer stem cell markers and MAP kinase signaling induced by gemcitabine. PANC-1 (a), AsPC-1 (b), and HPAF-II (c) were first starved for 24 h and then divided into four groups for the treatment under the starvation condition: 1) NT group, 2) treated with gemcitabine (100 nM) for 72 h, 3) treated with AuNPs (25 μg/ml) for 24 h, 4) first treated with AuNPs (24 h) and then with gemcitabine (100 nM, 72h). Following the treatment either the total RNA of the cells was extracted and stem cell markers were quantified by qPCR (a-c) or the cell lysates were analyzed via western blot (d). All the assays were repeated three independent times. Values are means ±SD and statistical analysis were performed using one-way ANOVA. *P≤0.05, **P≤0.01.