The JAXA MHU-2 mission had two objectives: 1) To increase understanding of effects of spaceflight on the gut environment (microbiota and metabolites) and immune system using multi-omics based analysis; 2) To evaluate whether fructo-oligosaccharides added to the diet as prebiotics improve the gut environment and immune function during spaceflight. Twelve 16-18 week old male C57BL/6J mice were singly housed in the JAXA Habitat Cage Units (HCUs) on the ISS for 30 days. Six flight mice were housed in microgravity while six were exposed to simulated 1g by centrifugation. These two flight groups were further divided in half so that three mice in each group received standard JAXA chow while the other three were fed chow supplemented with fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Mice were returned live and euthanized and dissected <1 day after splashdown. Ground controls (n=6) were asynchronous and housed in HCUs. Vivarium controls (n=6) were asynchronous and housed in standard habitats. Three ground control and three vivarium animals received standard chow while the other three each ground control and vivarium animals received FOS-supplemented chow. Ground and vivarium samples were dissected by a separate dissection team than flight samples. Femoral skin was dissected 30 minutes after euthanasia and snap frozen in liquid nitrogen. Total RNA was extracted and sequenced at a target depth of 60 M clusters per sample (ribodepleted paired end 150). Study Factor Levels: 1)Spaceflight ug Std. Chow: 3; 2)Spaceflight ug FOS: 3; 3) Spaceflight Artificial 1g Std. Chow: 3; 4)Spaceflight Artificial 1g FOS: 3; 5)Ground 1g Std. Chow: 3; 6)Ground 1g FOS: 3; 7)Vivarium 1g Std. Chow: 3; 8)Vivarium 1g FOS: 3

The JAXA MHU-2 mission had two objectives: 1) To increase understanding of effects of spaceflight on the gut environment (microbiota and metabolites) and immune system using multi-omics based analysis; 2) To evaluate whether fructo-oligosaccharides added to the diet as prebiotics improve the gut environment and immune function during spaceflight. Twelve 16-18 week old male C57BL/6J mice were singly housed in the JAXA Habitat Cage Units (HCUs) on the ISS for 30 days. Six flight mice were housed in microgravity while six were exposed to simulated 1g by centrifugation. These two flight groups were further divided in half so that three mice in each group received standard JAXA chow while the other three were fed chow supplemented with fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Mice were returned live and euthanized and dissected <1 day after splashdown. Ground controls (n=6) were asynchronous and housed in HCUs. Vivarium controls (n=6) were asynchronous and housed in standard habitats. Three ground control and three vivarium animals received standard chow while the other three each ground control and vivarium animals received FOS-supplemented chow. Ground and vivarium samples were dissected by a separate dissection team than flight samples. Dorsal skin was dissected 30 minutes after euthanasia and snap frozen in liquid nitrogen. Total RNA was extracted and sequenced at a target depth of 60 M clusters per sample (ribodepleted paired end 150). Study Factor Levels: 1)Spaceflight ug Std. Chow: 3; 2)Spaceflight ug FOS: 3; 3) Spaceflight Artificial 1g Std. Chow: 3; 4)Spaceflight Artificial 1g FOS: 3; 5)Ground 1g Std. Chow: 3; 6)Ground 1g FOS: 3; 7)Vivarium 1g Std. Chow: 3; 8)Vivarium 1g FOS: 3.

Irradiated hosts gave rise to significantly more Trp53 null mammary cancers that grew more rapidly than those in sham-irradiated mice and exhibited an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment . CAPE prevented the effect of host irradiation on tumor growth rate immune signature and immunosuppression.

The MARS500 project the longest ground-based space simulation ever provided us with a unique opportunity to trace the crew microbiota over 520 days of isolated confinement such as that faced by astronauts in real long-term interplanetary space flights and after returning to regular life for a total of 2 years.

We report how high and low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation microgravity and elevated dietary iron affect colon microbiota (determined by 16S rDNA pyrosequencing) and colon function. Three independent experiments were conducted: 1) fractionated low LET gamma radiation (137Cs 3 Gy RAD) high Fe diet (IRON) (650 mg/kg diet) and a combination of low LET gamma radiation and high Fe diet (IRON+RAD) in male Sprague-Dawley rats; 2) high LET 38Si particle exposure (0.050 Gy) 1/6 G partial weight bearing (PWB) and a combination of high LET38Si particle exposure and PWB in female BalbC/ByJ mice; and 3) 13 d spaceflight in female C57BL/6 mice. For each experiment the colon was resected and feces removed for microbial sequencing analysis on a Roche 454 Genome Sequencer FLX Titanium instrument (Microbiome Core Facility Chapel Hill NC) using the GS FLX Titanium XLR70 sequencing reagents and protocols. Analysis of amplicon sequencing data was carried out using the QIIME pipeline. Low LET radiation high iron diet and spaceflight increased Bacteroidetes and decreased Firmicutes. Low LET radiation high Fe diet and spaceflight did not significantly affect diversity or richness or elevate pathogenic genera. Spaceflight increased Clostridiales and decreased Lactobacillales and similar trends were observed in the experiment using a ground-based model of microgravity suggesting altered gravity may affect colonic microbiota. Microbiota characteriztion in these models is a first step in understanding the impact of the space environment on intestinal health.

We report how high and low linear energy transfer (LET) radiation microgravity and elevated dietary iron affect colon microbiota (determined by 16S rDNA pyrosequencing) and colon function. Three independent experiments were conducted: 1) fractionated low LET gamma radiation (137Cs 3 Gy RAD) high Fe diet (IRON) (650 mg/kg diet) and a combination of low LET gamma radiation and high Fe diet (IRON+RAD) in male Sprague-Dawley rats; 2) high LET 38Si particle exposure (0.050 Gy) 1/6 G partial weight bearing (PWB) and a combination of high LET38Si particle exposure and PWB in female BalbC/ByJ mice; and 3) 13 d spaceflight in female C57BL/6 mice. For each experiment the colon was resected and feces removed for microbial sequencing analysis on a Roche 454 Genome Sequencer FLX Titanium instrument (Microbiome Core Facility Chapel Hill NC) using the GS FLX Titanium XLR70 sequencing reagents and protocols. Analysis of amplicon sequencing data was carried out using the QIIME pipeline. Low LET radiation high iron diet and spaceflight increased Bacteroidetes and decreased Firmicutes. Low LET radiation high Fe diet and spaceflight did not significantly affect diversity or richness or elevate pathogenic genera. Spaceflight increased Clostridiales and decreased Lactobacillales and similar trends were observed in the experiment using a ground-based model of microgravity suggesting altered gravity may affect colonic microbiota. Microbiota characteriztion in these models is a first step in understanding the impact of the space environment on intestinal health.