Total cellular RNA was extracted from approximately 5 ×106 cells using the RNA-BEE (Qiagen) according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and reverse transcription was performed using a High Capacity cDNA Synthesis kit (AB Biosystems). PCR was performed using a GoTAQ PCR kit (Fisher Scientific), and PCR products were analysed using agarose gel electrophoresis. Quantitative PCR was done using SyberGreen (Invitrogen), and the results were analysed using SDS3.2 software for a 7900HT real-time PCR system. The primer sequences used are described in Supplementary Table 6.
