Brain Cells Mature Faster In Space But Stay Healthy, ISS Study Finds

Scripps Research scientists sent stem-cell-derived brain organoids to the ISS to study the effects of microgravity on brain cells, finding that the organoids matured faster and showed signs of specialization compared to Earth-grown controls. The findings have been published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. Phys.Org reports: To examine how the space environment impacts cellular functions, the team compared the cells' RNA expression patterns -- a measure of gene activity -- to identical 'ground control' organoids that had remained on Earth. Surprisingly, they found that the organoids grown in microgravity had higher levels of genes associated with maturity and lower levels of genes associated with proliferation compared to the ground controls, meaning that the cells exposed to microgravity developed faster and replicated less than those on Earth. 'We discovered that in both types of organoids, the gene expression profile was characteristic of an older stage of development than the ones that were on the ground,' [says co-senior author Jeanne Loring, Ph.D., professor emeritus in the Department of Molecular Medicine and founding director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Scripps Research]. 'In microgravity, they developed faster, but it's really important to know these were not adult neurons, so this doesn't tell us anything about aging.'

The team also noted that contrary to their hypothesis, there was less inflammation and lower expression of stress-related genes in organoids grown in microgravity, but more research is needed to determine why. Loring speculates that microgravity conditions may more closely mirror the conditions experienced by cells within the brain compared to organoids grown under conventional lab conditions and in the presence of gravity. 'The characteristics of microgravity are probably also at work in people's brains, because there's no convection in microgravity -- in other words, things don't move,' says Loring. 'I think that in space, these organoids are more like the brain because they're not getting flushed with a whole bunch of culture medium or oxygen. They're very independent; they form something like a brainlet, a microcosm of the brain.' 'The next thing we plan to do is to study the part of the brain that's most affected by Alzheimer's disease,' says Loring. 'We also want to know whether there are differences in the way neurons connect with each other in space. With these kinds of studies, you can't rely on earlier work to predict what the result would be because there is no earlier work. We're on the ground floor, so to speak; in the sky, but on the ground floor.'

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