We report the findings of an animal experiment onboard STS-135 investigating the molecular aspects of the impact of spaceflight on retinal biology by performing differential gene expression profiling between mice flown onboard STS-135 and their ground control counterparts.

The present study concerns the effects of 21 days of sustained recumbence (bedrest) on skeletal muscle gene expression. 14 male subjects participated in normoxic bedrest (NBR) with muscle unloading for 21 days this is a substudy of tha PlanHab-study which apart from normoxic bedrest also involved hypoxic bedrest and hypoxic ambulation. Throughout both bedrest interventions each subject remained in a horizontal position at all times. He was allowed one pillow for the head and to occasionally lean on an elbow while eating or being transferred to a gurney. Muscular exercise was prohibited. During the HAMB confinement each subject was allowed to move freely within the hypoxic area. To mimic a normal level of physical activity subjects performed 30 minutes of low-to-moderate-intensity exercise twice daily. Muscle samples from Vastus lateralis.

We investigated differentially regulated and stably expressed genes in human Jurkat T lymphocytic cells in 5min simulated microgravity and hypergravity and compared expression profiles to identify gravity-regulated and unaffected genes as well as adaptation processes.

We investigated differentially regulated genes in human Jurkat T lymphocytic cells in 20s and 5min microgravity and in hypergravity and compared expression profiles to identify potential gravity-regulated genes and adaptation processes.

Cell cycle and cell proliferation are decoupled under altered gravity conditions. We have previously shown that semisolid cell cultures of Arabidopsis suffer overall genome changes in response to altered gravity and also that cell cycle stages duration is altered. By using synchronized cell cultures we will demonstrate the precise alterations in cell cycle duration and also the transcriptional signature in any of them. - Experiments consists on exposures of Arabidopsis cell cultures to 1g control/simulated microgravity (RPM) conditions. Asynchronous cells exposed for 14 h + Syncronous populations choosen to have an enrichment of cell cycle phases were used (being T7/T10 samples on G2 phase T14/T16 samples on G1 phase). 6 dye-swap - time course,treated vs untreated comparison

One of the most likely risks astronauts on long duration space missions face is exposure to ionizing radiation associated with highly energetic and charged heavy (HZE) particles. Since access to medical expertise on such a mission is limited at best early diagnosis and mitigation of such exposure is critical. In order to accurately determine the dosage within 1 hour post-exposure dose-dependent biomarkers are needed. Therefore we performed a dose-course transcriptional analysis for radiation exposure at 0 0.3 1.5 and 3.0 Gy with corresponding time point at 1 hour (hr) post-exposure using Affymetrix GeneChip Human Gene 1.0 ST v1 Array chips. The analysis of our data suggests a set of sensitive genetic biomarkers specific to each radiation level as well as generic radiation response biomarkers. Upregulated biomarkers can then be used within lab-on-a-chip (LOC) systems to detect exposure to ionizing radiation. A total of sixteen human samples representing radiation exposure at levels 0 Gy 0.3 Gy 1.5 Gy and 3.0 Gy at time point 1 hour (hr) post-exposure were constructed. Blood samples were extracted from four human volunteers and were irradiated. Leukocytes were extracted and gene expression was measured. Samples for all four volunteers were measured at 1 hr for all four dose levels resulting in four replicates at each dose level. Thus a total of 4 samples at each of the four radiation levels were sampled yielding the total of 16 samples.

We differentiated mouse bone marrow cells in the presence of recombinant macrophage colony stimulating (rM-CSF) factor for 14 days during the flight of space shuttle Space Transportation System (STS)-126. We tested the hypothesis that the receptor expression for M-CSF c-Fms was reduced. We used flow cytometry to assess molecules on cells that were preserved during flight to define the differentiation state of the developing bone marrow macrophages; including CD11b CD31 CD44 Ly6C Ly6G F4/80 Mac2 c-Fos as well as c-Fms. In addition RNA was preserved during the flight and was used to perform a gene microarray. We found that there were significant differences in the number of macrophages that developed in space compared to controls maintained on Earth. We found that there were significant changes in the distribution of cells that expressed CD11b CD31 F4/80 Mac2 Ly6C and c-Fos. However there were no changes in c-Fms expression and no consistent pattern of advanced or retarded differentiation during space flight. We also found a pattern of transcript levels that would be consistent with a relatively normal differentiation outcome but increased proliferation by the bone marrow macrophages that were assayed after 14 days of space flight. There also was a surprising pattern of space flight influence on genes of the coagulation pathway. These data confirm that a space flight can have an impact on the in vitro development of macrophages from mouse bone marrow cells.

Mice were flown onboard STS-135 and returned to Earth for analysis. Livers were collected within 3-4 hours of landing and snap frozen in liquid nitrogen. Samples were shipped to UCI Genomics High Throughput Facility for analysis.

These investigations studied the fundamentals of how plants perceive gravity and develop in microgravity. It informs how gene regulation is altered by spaceflight conditions.

In this study transcriptome profiling was used to gain insight into the spaceflight adaptation role of Altered response to gravity-1 (Arg1) a gene known to affect gravity responses in plants on Earth. The study compared expression profiles of cultured lines of Arabidopsis thaliana derived from wild type (WT) cultivar Col-0 to profiles from a knock-out line deficient in the gene encoding (ARG1 KO) both on the ground and in space. The cell lines were launched on SpaceX CRS-2 as part of the Cellular Expression Logic (CEL) experiment of the BRIC17 spaceflight mission. The cultured cell lines were grown within 60mm Petri plates in Petri Dish Fixation Units (PDFUs) that were housed within the Biological Research In Canisters (BRIC) hardware. Spaceflight samples were fixed on orbit. Differentially expressed genes were identified between the two environments (spaceflight and comparable ground controls) and the two genotypes (WT and ARG1 KO). Each genotype engaged unique genes during physiological adaptation to the spaceflight environment with little overlap. Most of the genes altered in expression in spaceflight in WT cells were found to be Arg1-dependent suggesting a major role for that gene in the physiological adaptation of undifferentiated cells to spaceflight.