Taqman microRNA Assays for MIR2911, MIR161, MIR166a, MIR167a, MIR159a, MIR156a, MIR168a, MIR172a, were obtained from Life Technologies (Grand Island, NY). Quantitative Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was performed using a Biorad CFX96 Real-Time PCR Detection System, and data were analyzed using Biorad CFX software [13 (link)]. Delta-Delta-Ct method was used to calculate relative levels of miRNAs. Absolute concentrations of miRNAs were calculated based on standard curves obtained from serial dilutions of synthetic miRNAs.