Liu Dongmei, Wang Ru, Grant Ana R, Zhang Jinming, Gordon Paul M, Wei Yuqin, Chen Peijie
School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport, Qinyuanhuan Road, #650, Yangpu District, Shanghai, China.
Department of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics / Bioinformatics Core, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
BMC Genomics. 2017 Jan 5;18(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s12864-016-3388-5.
Endurance exercise training, especially the high-intensity training, exhibits a strong influence on the immune system. However, the mechanisms underpinning the immune-regulatory effect of exercise remain unclear. Consequently, we chose to investigate the alterations in the transcriptional profile of blood leukocytes in young endurance athletes as compared with healthy sedentary controls, using Affymetrix human gene 1.1 ST array.
Group differences in the transcriptome were analyzed using Intensity-based Hierarchical Bayes method followed by a Logistic Regression-based gene set enrichment method. We identified 72 significant transcripts differentially expressed in the leukocyte transcriptome of young endurance athletes as compared with non-athlete controls with a false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05, comprising mainly the genes encoding ribosomal proteins and the genes involved in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Gene set enrichment analysis identified three major gene set clusters: two were up-regulated in athletes including gene translation and ribosomal protein production, and mitochondria oxidative phosphorylation and biogenesis; one gene set cluster identified as transcriptionally downregulated in athletes was related to inflammation and immune activity.
Our data indicates that in young healthy individuals, intense endurance exercise training (exemplifed by athletic training) can chronically induce transcriptional changes in the peripheral blood leukocytes, upregulating genes related to protein production and mitochondrial energetics, and downregulating genes involved in inflammatory response. The findings of the study also provide support for the notion that peripheral blood can be used as a surrogate tissue to study the systemic effect of exercise training.
耐力运动训练，尤其是高强度训练，对免疫系统有强烈影响。然而，运动免疫调节作用的潜在机制仍不清楚。因此，我们选择使用Affymetrix人类基因1.1 ST阵列，研究年轻耐力运动员与健康久坐对照者相比，血液白细胞转录谱的变化。
使用基于强度的分层贝叶斯方法，随后采用基于逻辑回归的基因集富集方法分析转录组中的组间差异。我们鉴定出72个在年轻耐力运动员白细胞转录组中与非运动员对照相比差异表达的显著转录本，错误发现率（FDR）<0.05，主要包括编码核糖体蛋白的基因和参与线粒体氧化磷酸化的基因。基因集富集分析确定了三个主要的基因集簇：两个在运动员中上调，包括基因翻译和核糖体蛋白产生，以及线粒体氧化磷酸化和生物合成；一个在运动员中被确定为转录下调的基因集簇与炎症和免疫活动有关。
我们的数据表明，在年轻健康个体中，高强度耐力运动训练（以运动训练为例）可长期诱导外周血白细胞的转录变化，上调与蛋白质产生和线粒体能量学相关的基因，并下调参与炎症反应的基因。该研究结果也为外周血可作为研究运动训练全身效应的替代组织这一观点提供了支持。
