Download c-Jun N-terminal kinase plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of

Supplementary Fig. S1. Enrichment of glioma stem-like cell population by sphere
forming culture. (A) Representative images of monolayer- and sphere-cultured U87 and
U373 cells. (B) Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR for RNA levels of CD133, Nestin and
Musashi-1 (upper) and immunoblot analysis for Nestin and Musashi-1 (lower) in monolayerand sphere-cultured glioma cells. GAPDH was amplified as internal control in RT-PCR. βactin was used as the loading control in immunoblot.
Supplementary Fig. S2. Maintenance of glioma stem-like cell population in the absence
of exogenous EGF and bFGF in sphere-cultured glioma cells.
(A) Representative sphere forming glioma cells with/without exogenous EGF and bFGF.
(B) Immunoblot analysis for Nestin and Musashi-1 and FACS analysis for quantification of
CD133+/Nestin+ population in sphere-cultured glioma cells with/without exogenous EGF and
bFGF, compared to monolayer-cultured cells.
Supplementary Fig. S3
Pharmacological inhibition of ERK1/2 and p38 had only marginal effect on sphere
formation (A) and soft agar colony formation (B). (A) Representative images of spheres (40×
magnification) (B) Representative images of colony formation (40×, upper) and
quantification of the number of colonies in randomly selected four microscopic fields per
plate of glioma cells treated with DMSO, U0126, PD169316 (upper). Photomicrographs (40×
magnification). Error Bars represent mean ± S.D. of triplicate samples.
Supplementary Fig. S4
Pharmacological inhibition of JNK down-regulates stem cell markers. (A) Immunoblot
analysis for Notch-2, Sox2 and β-catenin after treatment with SP600125. (B-D) Reverse
transcription-PCR for Notch-1, -2, -3, -4 (B) and Gli1, Shh (C) and β-catenin (D).
GAPDHwas amplified as internal control in RT-PCR. Error Bars represent mean ± S.D. of
three independent experiments. * p<0.05, ** p<0.001 by one-way ANOVA.
Supplementary Fig. S5
Akt is activated in glioma stem-like cells, but does not regulate JNK. PI3K was
immunoprecipitated with anti-P85 antibody and applied to kinase assay using PIP as
substrate. Activity of PI3K was higher in sphere forming glioma cells, compared to
monolayer-cultured glioma cells. Also, phosphorylated form of Akt at Thr308 or Ser473 was
higher in sphere forming glioma cells. β-actin was used as the loading control.
Supplementary Fig. S6
Quantification of CD133+/Nestin+ population by FACS in patient-derived gliom stemlike cells after treatment with MAPK inhibitors for 48 h. Treatment with SP600125, JNK
inhibitor decreased the percentage of CD133+/Nestin+ cell population. ** p<0.001 by oneway ANOVA.
Supplementary Fig. S7
Downregulation of JNK suppresses sphere formation and stemness of sphere forming
glioma cells. (A) Clonal analysis of sphere forming glioma cells at single cell level after
transduction with JNK2 shRNA. (B) Soft agar colony formation assay after transduction with
JNK2 shRNA. Photomicrographs (40× magnification) and quantification of the number of
colonies in randomly selected four microscopic fields per plate.(C)Quantification of
CD133+/Nestin+ population by FACS in sphere forming glioma cells after transduction with
JNK2 shRNA.(D) Immunoblot analysis for Notch-1, Notch-2, Sox2, Gli1 and β-catenin after
transduction with JNK2 shRNA. β-actin was used as the loading control. Error Bars represent
mean ± S.D. of triplicate samples. ** p<0.001 with one-way ANOVA.