Real-time PCR was carried out for four representative genes, namely, ATP synthase (ATP5j; ATP synthase, H+ transporting, F0 complex, subunit F6), Mt-co1, mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase 6 (Mt-nd6), and nuclear receptor subfamily 4, group A, member 1 (Nurr1) for all the six brain regions. The primers and TaqMan probes for the four genes were purchased from Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA), and quantitative RT-PCR analysis was performed as described previously (Konu et al. 2004). The PCR was carried out in a volume of 20 μl using the TaqMan assay on an ABI 7000 Sequence Detection System. The 18S ribosomal RNA was used as an internal control to normalize the expression patterns of genes of interest. Data analysis was performed using a comparative Ct method (Winer et al. 1999). For each verified gene, five independent replicates were analyzed for each experimental group.
