XEN
mRNA was extracted from total RNA using oligo (dT) magnetic beads and cleaved into short fragments. A cDNA library compatible with the Illumina NGS technology was then prepared (Illumina TruSeq stranded mRNA-seq library) from the fragmented mRNA via reverse transcription, second-strand synthesis and ligation of specific adapters (paired-ends) after cDNA purification using the QIAquick PCR Purification Kit (Qiagen). The amount of cDNA in each library was quantified through spectrofluorometric analysis using the Qbit system (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Sequencing was performed using Illumina HiSeq 4000 technology (Illumina, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). After sequencing, the image data were transformed in raw data and stored in the fastq format