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Studies in mice and humans who have traveled through space reveal that critical parts of a cell’s energy-producing machinery, the mitochondria, can be rendered dysfunctional due to changes in gravity, radiation exposure and other factors, according to Georgetown investigators. Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.
These findings are part of a large research effort across many scientific disciplines to examine the health effects of space travel. The research has implications for future space travel and how metabolic changes due to space travel could inform medical science on earth.
The findings appeared on November 25, 2020 on Cell and are part of a larger research compendium on the health aspects of space travel that appears simultaneously in Cell, Cell Reports, Cell Systems, Patterns, and iScience.
“My group’s research efforts focused on the muscle tissue of the mice that were sent into space and were compared with the analyzes of other scientists who have studied different mouse tissues,” says Evagelia C. Laiakis, PhD, professor Georgetown Associate of Oncology. “Although each of us have studied different tissues, we all came to the same conclusion: that mitochondrial function was negatively affected by space travel.”
In addition to studying the effects of space travel on cellular function, the scientists used a series of data from NASA’s decades of human flight experiments to correlate their animal results with those of 59 astronauts.
They were also able to access data from NASA’s repository of biological samples that had flown into space to make further comparisons. The data from NASA’s Twin Study by Mark and Scott Kelly was particularly instructive as it allowed a comparison of the health effects seen in an astronaut in space, Scott, with his earth-bound brother, Mark, who is an astronaut. retired.
By comparing their mouse studies with human data, Laiakis and the team of researchers were able to determine that space travel led to certain metabolic effects:
+ Isolated cells were negatively affected to a greater extent than whole organs
+ The changes in the liver were more noticeable than in other organs
+ Mitochondrial function was affected
Because space travel almost always exposes people to higher levels of radiation than could be found on Earth, scientists knew such exposure could damage mitochondria. This aspect of radiation exposure translates into health outcomes here on earth for cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy.
With this knowledge of the impact of radiation on mitochondria, doctors may in the future adapt radiation therapy in different ways to protect normal tissues. The implications for traveling to Mars are particularly worrying, the researchers say, as this would result in a much longer time in space and therefore a long exposure to radiation.
“The launch of SpaceX earlier this month was very exciting,” Laiakis says. “From this and other planned adventures to the Moon and ultimately Mars, we hope to learn a lot more about the effects spaceflight can have on metabolism and how to potentially mitigate the negative effects for future space travelers.”
Cell Press Special Report The biology of space flight
Related links
Georgetown University Medical Center
Space medicine technology and systems
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Live streaming of viruses will allow scientists to study infections in real time
Washington DC (UPI), November 13, 2020
Do you want to study viral infections in real time? Tune in to the live stream. Researchers in the Netherlands have developed a new microscope technology that can be combined with new virus tagging technology to observe viral particles as they invade and replicate inside cells. The breakthrough, detailed Friday in the journal Cell, could help scientists better understand RNA viruses such as the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. RNA viruses, such as coronavirus, carry their own genetics … read more
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