Figure 2.

Expression of long non-coding RNA-testicular cell adhesion molecule 1 (lncRNA-Tcam1) and its target gene candidates in postnatal testes. (A) lncRNA-Tcam1 expression in mouse testes at various postnatal stages. Total RNAs were purified from whole testes of mice at indicated ages. Expression levels of lncRNA-Tcam1 were measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) as in Figure 1B, and the data were normalized to the housekeeping Aip gene. The value at day 7 was set to 1.0. (B) Expression of five candidate genes that were presumed to be suppressed by lncRNA-Tcam1 in testes of 7- and 14-day-old mice. qRT-PCR was performed, and the data were normalized to Aip. The level at day 7 was set to 1.0. Light gray bars represent expression levels at 7 days of age, and light black bars indicate those at 14 days. (C) Expression of 16 candidate genes that were presumed to be activated by lncRNA-Tcam1. qRT-PCR was performed and the data were normalized as in (B). All experiments were performed four times with two different RNA sets from testes, and the averages ± SD are indicated. The statistical significance was analyzed by one-way analysis of variance followed by Dunnett’s test in (A) and by Student’s t-test in (B,C). *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 compared to day 7.