Gene expression data from 16-month and 3-month old male rats, with three different levels of activity over the life span: sedentary, twice weekly physical activity, regular running wheel exercise.

Gene expression data at rest and immediately post 30 min submaximal exercise in 3 month and 16 month old male rats, some of which were sedentary (SED), had access to a physical activity box twice weekly (PA) and some of which had daily access to a running wheel (EX). We used microarrays to detail global gene expression underlying select health-related phenotypes and identified differentially expressed genes among the three groups. Young (3 month) and old (16 month) male rats were separated into three different groups: Sedentary (SED), twice-weekly physical activity (PA), and regular exercise (EX). Animals were sacrificed either at rest or after 30 min of sub maximal exercise. Then, a portion of cardiac tissue was collected for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.