Dataset Information

Skeletal adaptations in young male mice after 4 weeks aboard the International Space Station.

ABSTRACT: Gravity has an important role in both the development and maintenance of bone mass. This is most evident in the rapid and intense bone loss observed in both humans and animals exposed to extended periods of microgravity in spaceflight. Here, cohabitating 9-week-old male C57BL/6 mice resided in spaceflight for ~4 weeks. A skeletal survey of these mice was compared to both habitat matched ground controls to determine the effects of microgravity and baseline samples in order to determine the effects of skeletal maturation on the resulting phenotype. We hypothesized that weight-bearing bones would experience an accelerated loss of bone mass compared to non-weight-bearing bones, and that spaceflight would also inhibit skeletal maturation in male mice. As expected, spaceflight had major negative effects on trabecular bone mass of the following weight-bearing bones: femur, tibia, and vertebrae. Interestingly, as opposed to the bone loss traditionally characterized for most weight-bearing skeletal compartments, the effects of spaceflight on the ribs and sternum resembled a failure to accumulate bone mass. Our study further adds to the insight that gravity has site-specific influences on the skeleton.

SUBMITTER: Maupin KA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6760218 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Skeletal adaptations in young male mice after 4 weeks aboard the International Space Station.

Maupin Kevin A KA Childress Paul P Brinker Alexander A Khan Faisal F Abeysekera Irushi I Aguilar Izath Nizeet IN Olivos David J DJ Adam Gremah G Savaglio Michael K MK Ganesh Venkateswaran V Gorden Riley R Mannfeld Rachel R Beckner Elliott E Horan Daniel J DJ Robling Alexander G AG Chakraborty Nabarun N Gautam Aarti A Hammamieh Rasha R Kacena Melissa A MA

NPJ microgravity 20190924

Gravity has an important role in both the development and maintenance of bone mass. This is most evident in the rapid and intense bone loss observed in both humans and animals exposed to extended periods of microgravity in spaceflight. Here, cohabitating 9-week-old male C57BL/6 mice resided in spaceflight for ~4 weeks. A skeletal survey of these mice was compared to both habitat matched ground controls to determine the effects of microgravity and baseline samples in order to determine the effect ...[more]

PMID: 31583271

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Project description:IntroductionSpaceflight leads to the deconditioning of multiple body systems including the immune system. We sought to characterize the molecular response involved by capturing changes in leukocyte transcriptomes from astronauts transitioning to and from long-duration spaceflight.MethodsFourteen male and female astronauts with ~6-month- long missions aboard the International Space Station (ISS) had 10 blood samples collected throughout the three phases of the study: one pre-flight (PF), four in-flight (IF) while onboard the ISS, and five upon return to Earth (R). We measured gene expression through RNA sequencing of leukocytes and applied generalized linear modeling to assess differential expression across all 10 time points followed by the analysis of selected time points and functional enrichment of changing genes to identify shifts in biological processes.ResultsOur temporal analysis identified 276 differentially expressed transcripts grouped into two clusters (C) showing opposite profiles of expression with transitions to and from spaceflight: (C1) decrease-then-increase and (C2) increase-then-decrease. Both clusters converged toward average expression between ~2 and ~6 months in space. Further analysis of spaceflight transitions identified the decrease-then-increase pattern with most changes: 112 downregulated genes between PF and early spaceflight and 135 upregulated genes between late IF and R. Interestingly, 100 genes were both downregulated when reaching space and upregulated when landing on Earth. Functional enrichment at the transition to space related to immune suppression increased cell housekeeping functions and reduced cell proliferation. In contrast, egress to Earth is related to immune reactivation.ConclusionThe leukocytes' transcriptome changes describe rapid adaptations in response to entering space followed by opposite changes upon returning to Earth. These results shed light on immune modulation in space and highlight the major adaptive changes in cellular activity engaged to adapt to extreme environments.

Dataset Information

Skeletal adaptations in young male mice after 4 weeks aboard the International Space Station.

Publications

Skeletal adaptations in young male mice after 4 weeks aboard the International Space Station.

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