Fig. 3

circ-MAPK4 maintains the survival of glioma cells via p38/MAPK pathway. (a) circ-MAPK4 expression was rescued in stable circ-MAPK4 silenced U138 cells. qPCR assay was performed to detect relative expression level of circ-MAPK4. (b, c) CCK-8 and colony formation assays were performed to test cell proliferation of these U138 cells. (d) Apoptosis assays were performed to test cellular apoptosis (ratio) of these U138 cells. (e) Transwell assays were performed to test cell invasive activity of these U138 cells with restored expression of circ-MAPK4. (f) Western blot assays were used to evaluate the total protein levels of p38/MAPK, ERK, JNK, CREB and the phosphorylation levels of p38/MAPK, ERK in transfected U138 and U373 cells. The intensity of bands were scanned and measured by Image J software, and were summarized as bar graphs. Data are the means ± SEM of three experiments. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001