Genome-wide Transcriptome Profiling of DRGs

Genome-wide RNA expression analysis was performed as previously described [24 (link), 25 (link)]. Briefly, RNA was isolated from DRGs with the RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen). Total RNA integrity was determined with the RNA Nano 6000 chip on the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer. Total RNA with a RNA integrity number (RIN)  > 8.0 was labeled using a TotalPrep RNA Labeling Kit (Ambion) before hybridization on Rat Ref-12 Expression BeadChips (Illumina) and imaging by the Illumina iScan System at the Lerner Research Institute Genomics Core, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH. Rat Ref-12 BeadChips allow for probing of ~22,523 well-established and provisional annotated transcripts. Raw data generated from iScan imaging was outputted using the GenomeStudio software package and Gene Expression module.