We used qRT-PCR to quantitate
elt-2 mRNA levels in wild-type animals during aging. We first used qRT-PCR to compare
elt-2 RNA levels in young (L4 larval stage) versus old (day 13 of adulthood) wild-type hermaphrodites. We used six reference genes (
let-70,
tbb-2,
htz-1,
pmp-3, Y45F10D.4,
cdc-42) as controls, and observed, on average, a two-fold reduction in
elt-2 expression in day 13 adults. We then repeated the qRT-PCR experiment to measure
elt-2 expression at L4, day 3, day 6, day 9, and day 12 of adulthood using only
tbb-2 as a control, and observed a two-fold reduction in
elt-2 levels by day 3 of adulthood.