RNA was extracted from all tissues, but quality varied widely, with tissue site and sample specific ischemic time accounting for ~40% of the variance in RNA quality (fig. S2). To maximize statistical power, we prioritized RNA sequencing of samples from nine tissues that were most frequently collected and that routinely met minimum RNA quality criteria: adipose (subcutaneous), tibial artery, heart (left ventricle), lung, muscle (skeletal), tibial nerve, skin (Sun-exposed), thyroid, and whole blood (Table 1) (14).
