Project description:Background: The International Space Station is an orbiting laboratory for microbial research in space, where microorganisms can be exposed to multiple extremes. Dehydrated cell clusters of extremophilic bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans have survived 3-year exposure outside the International Space Station in frames of the Tanpopo mission. We investigated the robust molecular machinery of Deinococcus radiodurans involved in its recovery after long-term space travel. Methods: The space-exposed and ground control cells of Deinococcus radiodurans were recovered in a complex medium for 5 and 15 h and investigated using integrative –omics techniques combined with electron microscopy tools. Consolidative transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses were performed to investigate molecular kinetics of cell recovery after 3-year exposure to low Earth orbit. Results: Ultrastructure analysis showed that Deinococcus radiodurans cells remained intact after low Earth orbit exposure for 3 years. Multiscale molecular analysis revealed significant alterations in response to long-term space travel. Key adaptations included upregulated DNA repair genes,stress response regulators, and oxidative stress scavenging enzymes. Proteins associated with transmembrane processes, cell division, and stress defence were also upregulated. Metabolomic analysis showed that only a few amino acids, sugars, and specific metabolites were more abundant after low Earth orbit exposure, suggesting energy conservation for molecular repair and regulation.Primordial stress molecule spermidine is also involved in cells recovery, helping combat the stress factors after space travel. Conclusion: Comparative –omics profile of extracted mRNA, proteins and metabolites allowed us to propose a multiscale dynamic molecular response of Deinococcus radiodurans after 3 years of space exposure. The kinetic profile with 2 timepoints during post-exposure analysis enabled the identification of foreground molecular targets employed by this microorganism in recovery after a space journey. Altogether, a multi-omics approach towards space-exposed cells revealed a strong focus on repair mechanisms, stress defence, and the utilization of external resources during the initial recovery phase. These findings expand our understanding of the molecular mechanisms employed by extremophiles to survive in space, providing implications for astrobiology and future space exploration.
Project description:The spaceflight experiment was carried out using male C57BL/10J mice (8 weeks old at launch). Wild type mice (n=3) were launched by Space Shuttle Discovery and housed on the International Space Station (ISS) for 91 days. They returned to the Earth by Space Shuttle Atlantis. But only one mouse returned to the Earth alive. Whole brain was sampled from the mouse killed by inhalation of carbon dioxide at the Life Sciences Support Facility of Kennedy Space Center within 3-4 hours after landing. After the spaceflight experiment, the on-ground experiment was also carried out at the Advanced Biotechnology Center in Genova, Italy. A mouse with the same species, sex, and age was housed in mice drawer system (MDS), which was utilized for the spaceflight (SF) mice, for 3 months as the ground control (GC). Another mouse was housed in normal vivarium cage as the laboratory control (LC). Amount of food and water supplementation and environmental conditions were simulated as the flight group. After 3 months, brain was sampled from one mouse in group GC and LC, respectively. Comprehensive analyses of gene expression were performed in the right brain. Total of 4,000 genes were analyzed. The expression levels of 60 genes significantly changed in response to SF compared with LC and/or GC. The 15 and 16 genes were up- (> 2 folds) and down-regulated (< 0.5 folds), respectively, following SF vs. GC. The levels of 58 genes were significantly altered by housing in MDS in space and/or on the ground. Forty seven and 11 genes were significantly up- and down-regulated vs. LC. Twenty seven out of these genes responded to caging in MDS both in space and on the ground. Further, 31 genes were influenced by housing in MDS on the Earth. Responses of the characteristics of brain to long-term gravitational unloading were investigated in mice.