Expression data of runners participating in an ultra-marathon trail

An ultra-marathon trail (UMT) represents a significant physical and psychological effort. However, little is known about the gene expression response to an UMT although this approach has been explored in shorter races. The objective is to identify the affected pathways in response to an 82km UMT considering a genome-wide analysis. Such response is interpreted as a global effect and as a sum of independent sources identified through an Independent Component Analysis. Peripheral blood samples were extracted from 16 runners before and after their participation (12 out of the initial 16) in the Cavalls del Vent ultra trail (2012 edition). RNA was isolated from them and hybridized on Affymetrix microarrays.