The expression level of the target genes in this study was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Total RNA from the cells of different treatment groups was extracted using the YTA total RNA purification mini kit (Yekta Tajhiz Azma, Iran) and according to the manufacturer’s protocol. After treatment with DNase I to remove genomic DNA, cDNA was reverse transcribed using RevertAid™ first-strand cDNA synthesis kit (Fermentas, USA). Maxima SYBR Green ROX qPCR master mix kit (Fermentas) was used according to the manufacturer’s protocol in an ABI StepOnePlus™ RT-PCR system (Applied Biosystems, USA). The cycling parameters were as follows: 10 min at 95 °C for the initial denaturation followed by 40 cycles of denaturation at 95 °C for 15 s and annealing/extension for 1 min at 60 °C. β-Actin was used as a reference gene for internal control. The data were analyzed using the comparative Ct (ΔΔCt) method (25 (link)). The experiments were carried out in triplicate and were independently repeated at least three times. Gene-specific primer sequences are presented in Table 1.