Total RNA was extracted from control and treated cells using TRIzol reagent (Life Technologies, Inc., Carlsbad, CA) according to manufacturer instructions and the cDNA synthesis was carried out as described by us earlier (29 (link)). About 2 µg of template cDNA was used for cycling in a thermal cycler (Thermo Fisher, Pittsburgh, PA). The PCR products were separated on a 1.5% agarose gel, stained with 0.5 mg/mL ethidium bromide, and visualized under UV light using BioRad Versa Doc imager.