mRNA levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-10 are elevated in the taste epithelium of MRL/lpr mice.

<p>qRT-PCR analysis of mRNA expression of IFN-γ (<b>A</b>), TNF-α (<b>B</b>), IL-10 (<b>C</b>), and IL-6 (<b>D</b>) in the circumvallate- and foliate-containing lingual epithelia of MRL/lpr and MRL/+/+ mice. Gene expression is shown as relative fold levels (mean ± SEM), with the mRNA level of each analyzed gene in MRL/+/+ mice arbitrarily set to 1. β-Actin was used as the endogenous control gene for relative quantification. For each mouse group, taste epithelial tissues from 3–4 mice were pooled for each set of sample preparations. Three independent sets of samples were prepared. Together, 9–12 mice per group were included in this study. Each qPCR reaction was run either in duplicate or triplicate. Student's <i>t</i> tests were performed. ** <i>p</i><0.01; *** <i>p</i><0.001.