NASA s Rodent Research (RR) project is playing a critical role in advancing biomedical research on the physiological effects of space environments. Due to the limited resources for conducting biological experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS) it is imperative to use crew time efficiently while maximizing high-quality science return. NASA s GeneLab project has as its primary objectives to 1) further increase the value of these experiments using a multi-omics systems biology-based approach and 2) disseminate these data without restrictions to the scientific community. The current investigation assessed viability of RNA DNA and protein extracted from archived RR-1 tissue samples for epigenomic transcriptomic and proteomic assays. During the first RR spaceflight experiment a variety of tissue types were harvested from subjects snap-frozen or RNAlater-preserved and then stored at least a year at -80C after return to Earth. They were then prioritized for this investigation based on likelihood of significant scientific value for spaceflight research. All tissues were made available to GeneLab through the bio-specimen sharing program managed by the Ames Life Science Data Archive and included mouse adrenal glands quadriceps gastrocnemius tibialis anterior extensor digitorum longus soleus eye and kidney. We report here protocols for and results of these tissue extractions and thus the feasibility and value of these kinds of omics analyses. In addition to providing additional opportunities for investigation of spaceflight effects on the mouse transcriptome and proteome in new kinds of tissues our results may also be of value to program managers for the prioritization of ISS crew time for rodent research activities.

Spaceflight imposes numerous adaptive challenges for terrestrial life. The reduction in gravity or microgravity represents a novel environment that can disrupt homeostasis of many physiological processes. Additionally it is becoming increasingly clear that an organism s microbiome is critical for host health and examining its resiliency in microgravity represents a new frontier for space biology research. In this study we examine the impact of microgravity on the interactions between the squid Euprymna scolopes and its beneficial symbiont Vibrio fischeri which form a highly specific binary mutualism. First animals inoculated with V. fischeri aboard the space shuttle showed effective colonization of the host light organ the site of the symbiosis during spaceflight. Second RNA-Seq analysis of squid exposed to modeled microgravity conditions exhibited extensive differential gene expression in the presence and absence of the symbiotic partner. Transcriptomic analyses revealed in the absence of the symbiont during modeled microgravity there was an enrichment of genes and pathways associated with the innate immune and oxidative stress response. The results suggest that V. fischeri may help modulate the host stress responses under modeled microgravity. This study provides a window into the adaptive responses that the host animal and its symbiont use during modeled microgravity.

Aspergillus fumigatus is a saprophytic filamentous fungus that is ubiquitous outdoors (soil decaying vegetation) and indoors (hospitals simulated closed habitats etc.). A. fumigatus can adapt to various environmental conditions and form airborne conidia that are the inoculum for a variety of diseases (e.g. non- and invasive pulmonary infections allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis etc.) in immunocompromised hosts. In an on-going Microbial Observatory Experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) molecular phylogeny of several fungal isolates were characterized. Two strains ISSF 21 and IF1SW-F4 were isolated from the HEPA filter and the surface of the Cupola of the ISS respectively. Using primers targeting the internal transcribed spacers ITS1 and 2 both isolates were identified as A. fumigatus. The whole genome sequence analysis of ISSF 21 revealed increased number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) when compared to the reference A. fumigatus 293. Knowing that A. fumigatus is an opportunistic pathogen and microgravity highly influences the antibiotic susceptibility and pathogenicity of microorganisms we examined pathogenicity of both ISS isolates using the zebrafish larval model. The space station isolates (ISSF-021 and IF1SW-F4) were more virulent than two clinical strains (Af293 and CEA10) whose pathogenicity was highly characterized. Here the whole genome sequences of ISSF-021 strain are being deposited.

The Rodent Research-3 (RR-3) mission was sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to study the effectiveness of a potential countermeasure for the loss of muscle and bone mass that occurs during spaceflight. Twenty BALB/c 18-weeks old female mice (ten controls and ten treated) were flown to the ISS and housed in the AEM-X habitat for 39-42 days. Twenty mice of similar age sex and strain were used for ground controls housed in identical hardware and matching ISS environmental conditions. Basal controls were housed in standard vivarium cages. Spaceflight ground controls and basal groups had blood collected then were euthanized had one hind limb removed and finally whole carcasses were stored at -80 C until dissection. All mice in this data set received only the control/sham injection.

The Rodent Research-3 (RR-3) mission was sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space to study the effectiveness of a potential countermeasure for the loss of muscle and bone mass that occurs during spaceflight. Twenty BALB/c 18-weeks old female mice (ten controls and ten treated) were flown to the ISS and housed in the AEM-X habitat for 39-42 days. Twenty mice of similar age sex and strain were used for ground controls housed in identical hardware and matching ISS environmental conditions. Basal controls were housed in standard vivarium cages. Spaceflight ground controls and basal groups had blood collected then were euthanized had one hind limb removed and finally whole carcasses were stored at -80 C until dissection. All mice in this data set received only the control/sham injection.

Space environment is suspected to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induce oxidative stress in plants however little is known about the gene expression of ROS gene network in plants grown in long-term space flight. RNA-Seq was used to define the large-scale gene expression profiles of Mizuna harvested after 27 days cultivation in the international space station to understand the molecular response and adaptation to space environment.Results: Total reads of transcripts from the Mizuna grown in the international space station as well as on the ground by RNA-Seq using next generation sequencing technology showed 8,258 and 14,170 transcripts up- and down-regulated in the space-grown Mizuna respectively when compared with those from the ground-grown Mizuna. A total of 20 in 32 ROS oxidative marker genes were up-regulated including high expression of 4 hallmarks and preferentially expressed gene associated with ROS-scavenging genes was thioredoxin glutaredoxin and alternative oxidase genes. In the transcription factors of ROS gene network MEKK1-MKK4-MPK3 OXI1-MKK4-MPK3 and OXI1-MPK3 of MAP cascades induction of WRKY22 by MEKK1-MKK4-MPK3 cascade induction of WRKY25 and repression of ZAT7 by Zat12 were suggested. RbohD and RbohF genes were up-regulated preferentially in NADPH oxidase genes which produce ROS.Conclusions: Our large-scale transcriptome analysis demonstrated that the space environment induced oxidative stress and ROS gene network was activated in the space-grown Mizuna some of which were common genes up-regulated by abiotic and biotic stress and were preferentially up-regulated genes by the space environment even though Mizuna grew in the space as well as on the ground showing that plants could acclimate to the space environment by reprograming the expression of ROS gene network.

Spaceflight has been shown to suppress the adaptive immune response altering the distribution and function of lymphocyte populations. B lymphocytes express highly specific and highly diversified receptors known as immunoglobulins (Ig) that directly bind and neutralize pathogens. Ig diversity is achieved through the enzymatic splicing of gene segments within the genomic DNA of each B cell in a host. The collection of Ig specificities within a host or Ig repertoire has been increasingly characterized in both basic research and clinical settings using high-throughput sequencing technology (HTS). We utilized HTS to test the hypothesis that spaceflight affects the B-cell repertoire. To test this hypothesis we characterized the impact of spaceflight on the unimmunized Ig repertoire of C57BL/6 mice that were flown aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during the Rodent Research One validation flight in comparison to ground controls. Individual gene segment usage was similar between ground control and flight animals however gene segment combinations and the junctions in which gene segments combine was varied among animals within and between treatment groups. We also found that spontaneous somatic mutations in the IgH and Ig xce xba gene loci were not increased. These data suggest that space flight did not affect the B cell repertoire of mice flown and housed on the ISS over a short period of time.

NASA s Rodent Research (RR) project is playing a critical role in advancing biomedical research on the physiological effects of space environments. Due to the limited resources for conducting biological experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS) it is imperative to use crew time efficiently while maximizing high-quality science return. NASA s GeneLab project has as its primary objectives to 1) further increase the value of these experiments using a multi-omics systems biology-based approach and 2) disseminate these data without restrictions to the scientific community. The current investigation assessed viability of RNA DNA and protein extracted from archived RR-1 tissue samples for epigenomic transcriptomic and proteomic assays. During the first RR spaceflight experiment a variety of tissue types were harvested from subjects snap-frozen or RNAlater-preserved and then stored at least a year at -80C after return to Earth. They were then prioritized for this investigation based on likelihood of significant scientific value for spaceflight research. All tissues were made available to GeneLab through the bio-specimen sharing program managed by the Ames Life Science Data Archive and included mouse adrenal glands quadriceps gastrocnemius tibialis anterior extensor digitorum longus soleus eye and kidney. We report here protocols for and results of these tissue extractions and thus the feasibility and value of these kinds of omics analyses. In addition to providing additional opportunities for investigation of spaceflight effects on the mouse transcriptome and proteome in new kinds of tissues our results may also be of value to program managers for the prioritization of ISS crew time for rodent research activities.

NASA s Rodent Research (RR) project is playing a critical role in advancing biomedical research on the physiological effects of space environments. Due to the limited resources for conducting biological experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS) it is imperative to use crew time efficiently while maximizing high-quality science return. NASA s GeneLab project has as its primary objectives to 1) further increase the value of these experiments using a multi-omics systems biology-based approach and 2) disseminate these data without restrictions to the scientific community. The current investigation assessed viability of RNA DNA and protein extracted from archived RR-1 tissue samples for epigenomic transcriptomic and proteomic assays. During the first RR spaceflight experiment a variety of tissue types were harvested from subjects snap-frozen or RNAlater-preserved and then stored at least a year at -80C after return to Earth. They were then prioritized for this investigation based on likelihood of significant scientific value for spaceflight research. All tissues were made available to GeneLab through the bio-specimen sharing program managed by the Ames Life Science Data Archive and included mouse adrenal glands quadriceps gastrocnemius tibialis anterior extensor digitorum longus soleus eye and kidney. We report here protocols for and results of these tissue extractions and thus the feasibility and value of these kinds of omics analyses. In addition to providing additional opportunities for investigation of spaceflight effects on the mouse transcriptome and proteome in new kinds of tissues our results may also be of value to program managers for the prioritization of ISS crew time for rodent research activities.

On Earth plants are constantly exposed to a gravitational field of 1g. Gravity affects a plant in every step of its development. Germinating seedlings orient their radicle and hypocotyl and growing plants position organs at a specific Gravitropic Set-point Angle dictated by the asymmetric distribution of auxin depending on the gravity vector. Hence gravitropism is one of the fundamental growth responses in plants. For any experiment studying the effects of gravity on plants the ultimate control is the microgravity in space. In this study Arabidopsis seeds were flown to the International Space Station and allowed to germinate and grow for 3 days in microgravity. Arabidopsis Wild Type Col-0 seeds were plated onto twenty-two 60mm Petri plates loaded into PDFUs and inserted 4 Biological Research in Canisters (BRICs). Approximately 800 seeds were sterilized plated on each 60mm Petri plates and cold stratified for 16 hours followed by 2 hours of white light treatment. The BRICs were maintained at 4C until spaceflight to ensure seed germination in microgravity. After 3 days of germination and growth the seedlings were fixed by injecting RNAlater into the chamber. They were kept at ambient temperature for 12 hours followed by freezing at -80C. An additional 22 plates were used as ground controls. After the spaceflight tissue from five plates was pooled to make each of three replicates. Both membrane and soluble proteins were extracted from the pooled seedlings. Proteins were trypsin digested labelled with iTRAQ and identified using tandem mass spectrometry.