The effect of GCs on mRNA expression in BFU-E cells determined by next-generation sequencing. Sorted CD71^10%low BFU-E cells were cultured as detailed in Figure 1 for 4 hours either in the absence or presence of 100nM Dex, after which mRNA was extracted and subjected to Illumina next-generation sequencing. mRNA expression was normalized with the RPKM method, which determines the relative expression of each gene, normalized to the total transcriptome, by giving each gene an RPKM count. The mRNA expression R-I plot shows on the y-axis the log2 ratio of expression of individual mRNAs in Dex-stimulated versus nonstimulated cells. Positive values mean higher expression in BFU-E cells treated with 100nM Dex (+1 = 100% up; +2 = 400% up; −1 = 50% down; −2 = 75% down, etc). The x-axis shows the average expression of individual mRNAs, plotted as the log2 of the product of expression of the mRNA in stimulated and nonstimulated cells.