Orthotopic KPC tumor implantation

All the mice experiments were performed following the protocols approved by our Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. 8–10 weeks old C57BL/6 female mice (Charles River, Wilmington, MA) were used for establishing orthotopic PDAC models. 5 × 10⁴ viable KPC cells (<12 passages) suspended in a 3:1 PBS to Matrigel (Sigma-Aldrich, St Louis, MO) solution were directly injected into the pancreas for orthotopic tumor induction. Mice were randomly assigned into different groups at 4–5 days following tumor inoculation.