Figure 6. β-Catenin overexpression rescues the effect of RYK knockdown on stemness.

AM38 and U87MG cells were co-transfected with RYK siRNA or a control siRNA sequence, and with either a vector carrying β-catenin or a control sequence. Exogenous β-catenin expression was able to partially counteract the effects of RYK silencing on the ability to form neurospheres (A) and on stem marker expression (B–D). In (A), data representative of three independent experiments. In (B–D), mRNA expression was assessed by real-time PCR and normalized against β-actin. Experiments were repeated at least twice. Statistical significance was calculated using Student's t-test (p < 0.05 considered significant). Results presented as mean ± SD. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001.