Furthermore, we reported that rIL-15 treatment protects mice from the cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis pathogenesis, including acinar cell atrophy, and perivascular accumulation of tissue collagen followed by downregulation of profibrotic genes such as TGF-β1, α-SMA, collagen-1, collagen-3, and fibronectin in cerulein-induced chronic pancreatitis in mice.
In this study we analyzed the balance of expression of mRNAs encoding extracellular matrix components (collagens I, III and IV, laminin, fibronectin), extracellular matrix degrading metalloproteinases (MMP-1, -2 and -3) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP-1 and -2) in chronic pancreatitis (n = 8) and control pancreas (n = 7) by northern blot analysis.