Gene expression profile of sprinter's muscle.

We have characterized the global gene expression profile in left vastus lateralis muscles of sprinters and sedentary men. The gene expression profile was analyzed by using serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) method. The abundantly expressed transcripts in the sprinter's muscle were mainly involved in contraction and energy metabolism, whereas six transcripts were corresponding to potentially novel transcripts. Thirty-eight transcripts were differentially expressed between the sprinter and sedentary individuals. Moreover, sprinters showed higher expressions of both uncharacterized and potentially novel transcripts. Sprinters also highly expressed seven transcripts, such as glycine-rich protein, myosin heavy polypeptide (MYH) 2, expressed sequence tag similar to (EST) fructose-bisphosphate aldolase 1 isoform A (ALDOA), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and ATP synthase F0 subunit 6. On the other hand, 20 transcripts such as MYH1, tropomyosin 2 and 3, troponin C slow, C2 fast, I slow, T1 slow and T3 fast, myoglobin, creatine kinase, ALDOA, glycogen phosphorylase, cytochrome c oxidase II and III, and NADH dehydrogenase 1 and 2 showed lower expression levels in the sprinters than the sedentary controls. The current study has characterized the global gene expressions in sprinters and identified a number of transcripts that can be subjected to further mechanistic analysis.