We chose 4 genes to test by qRT-PCR, based upon their roles in pathways that are affected. NR3C1 is the glucocorticoid receptor gene, the key transcription factor in the glucocorticoid pathway. FKBP5 (FK506 binding protein 5) is an immunophilin gene important in that pathway that also interacts with 90 kDa heat shock protein and sequesters NR3C1 in the cytosol, increasing glucocorticoid resistance. NR4A2 is a transcription factor in the steroid-thyroid hormone-retinoid receptor superfamily, mutations in which have been related to dopaminergic dysfunction. NR4A2 has been shown to repress inflammatory genes activated by NF-κB (Saijo et al., 2009) in microglia. GRM3 (glutamate receptor, metabotropic 3) was chosen because L-glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, and affects most aspects of brain function. All 4 genes showed similar fold-changes in qRT-PCR as they did in the microarrays (Table 3).
