- Academic Editor
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†These authors contributed equally.
Objective: To identify suitable reference genes for gene expression
studies in rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. Methods: The raw cycle
threshold (Ct) values of 12 selected reference genes were obtained via
quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in neurons at different developmental stages or under different
treatments. Two strategies were employed to screen the most stable reference
genes: the genes were ranked according to the coefficient of biological variation
and further validated using geNorm and NormFinder programs. The stable and
unstable reference genes were subsequently used as internal controls to assess
their effects on target gene expression. Results: All reference
genes showed varying degrees of fluctuation in Ct values during the growth
process of neurons or after different treatments. 18S ribosomal RNA
(Rn18s) and