Fig. 1

Chronic stress promotes glioma progression and shortens the survival of nude mice bearing xenografts. A Diagram of the experimental design for nude mice under CUMS or CRS procedure. B&C Body weight (left) and behavioral tests (right) were used to evaluate the depression of mice after CUMS and CRS. D Levels of corticosterone and ACTH in plasma and glioma tissues were measured by ELISA. E&F Representative bioluminescence images (E) and the photon flux was analyzed quantitatively (F) in both models using U87 glioma cells. G Representative H&E staining of consecutive brain sections (left) and the quantified results (right). H Ki67 immunostaining (left) and positive cell quantification (right). I Kaplan–Meier curve showed the overall survival time of glioma-bearing mice. CUMS: chronic unpredictable mild stress. CRS: chronic restraint stress. SPT: sucrose preference test. TST: tail suspension test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001