Fig. 5: Inhibition of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway blocks EMT and acquisition of CSC phenotypes in xenograft mouse models.

a Western blotting of ERK1/2, ERK1, and ERK2 in CD44(+) cells transduced with sh.ERK1/2 or sh.Scr. b Tumor growth curves of CD44(+) SCC-15 cell xenografts after treatment with sh.ERK1/2, sh.Scr, or 8 Gy. c Representative images of tumors from each treatment group on the 20th day. d IF analysis of treated tumors for CD44 (green), Nanog (red), and Snail (white) in SCC-15 xenografts treated with sh.ERK1/2, sh.Scr, or 8 Gy. Scale bar = 50 µm. Error bars represent standard deviation. *p < 0.05.