Blood samples were immediately processed after collection as previously described (36 (link)). Whole blood was mixed with RNA Stabilization Reagent for Blood/Bone Marrow (Roche, Germany) for stabilization and stored at −20°C, in compliance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Next, samples were thawed at room temperature and mRNA was isolated using the mRNA Isolation Kit for Blood/Bone Marrow (Roche), according to the protocol provided by the manufacturer. Reverse Transcription (RT) was performed using a High-Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription Kit (Applied Biosystems).
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