Effects of exercise on gene expression level in human NK Cells

We tested the hypothesis on the mechanisms responsible for the early control of NK cell function by identifying a discrete set of genes in circulating NK cells that were altered by exercise. Exercise leads to a rapid change in the profile of gene expression in NK cells. Twelve healthy men (20-29 yr old) performed 10 2-min bouts of cycle ergometer exercise interspersed with 1-min rest at a constant work equivalent to about 77% of VO2max. A baseline blood sample was taken before the and immediately after the exercise. NK cells were isolated from PBMC using a negative magnetic cell separation methods (Miltenyi Biotec Kit #130-092-657 and the autoMACS® Pro Separator). Total RNA was extracted using TRIzol®. For this study we used Affymetrix plus 2 (total of 24 chips).