Collection of biospecimens from the inspiration4 mission establishes the standards for the space omics and medical atlas (SOMA)

Abstract

The SpaceX Inspiration4 mission provided a unique opportunity to study the impact of spaceflight on the human body. Biospecimen samples were collected from four crew members longitudinally before (Launch: L-92, L-44, L-3 days), during (Flight Day: FD1, FD2, FD3), and after (Return: R + 1, R + 45, R + 82, R + 194 days) spaceflight, spanning a total of 289 days across 2021-2022. The collection process included venous whole blood, capillary dried blood spot cards, saliva, urine, stool, body swabs, capsule swabs, SpaceX Dragon capsule HEPA filter, and skin biopsies. Venous whole blood was further processed to obtain aliquots of serum, plasma, extracellular vesicles and particles, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. In total, 2,911 sample aliquots were shipped to our central lab at Weill Cornell Medicine for downstream assays and biobanking. This paper provides an overview of the extensive biospecimen collection and highlights their processing procedures and long-term biobanking techniques, facilitating future molecular tests and evaluations.As such, this study details a robust framework for obtaining and preserving high-quality human, microbial, and environmental samples for aerospace medicine in the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) initiative, which can aid future human spaceflight and space biology experiments.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Antagomirs: Space Radiation Damage Rescued by Inhibition of Key Spaceflight Associated miRNAs

“…We find that antagomir treatment reduces DNA damage induced by space radiation, and is associated with improved stress responses at the molecular and morphological levels. Furthermore, we confirm the specific targets of the miRNAs in astronaut samples from the NASA Twin Study 17 , a JAXA mission 18 , and the first civilian commercial spaceflight mission, Inspiration4 (I4) 19 . Our results suggest that these miRNAs may be targeted as countermeasures to alter cellular signaling pathways to mitigate spaceflight damage and reduce human health risks in human spaceflight missions.…”

“…6a-d), Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) Cell-Free Epigenome (CFE) Study 18 of astronauts that were in space for 120 days (Fig. 6e, f), as well as data from the first civilian commercial 3-day spaceflight mission, referred to as Inspiration4 (I4) 19 (Fig. 6g-s).…”

“…It is important to note that the estimated accumulated doses of space radiation that the astronauts were exposed to for these missions were lower than 0.5 Gy (which is the estimated dose for a trip to Mars and back), but despite this we still observed key changes as we will describe below. The following are the accumulated doses that were measured for each mission: NASA Twin Study astronaut received 146.34 mSv or 14.634 cGy 17 , I4 astronauts received 4.72 mSv or 0.472 cGy 19 , and for the JAXA astronauts we estimated that they had received an accumulated dose of 51.60 mSv or 5.16 cGy (the dosimetry was not reported for this mission and this is an estimate based on the average dose received per month from other missions) 18 .…”

“…Detailed methods for sample collection and data processing are described in Overbey et al 19 , and Kim et al 110 . Blood samples were collected before (Pre-launch: L-92, L-44, and L-3) and after (Return; R + 1, R + 45, and R + 82) the spaceflight.…”

Targeted proteomic analysis of dry blood spot samples collected during long-term spaceflights

“…Space ight (SF) is one of the most extreme conditions and is resembled by a complex of factors, such as microgravity, extreme acceleration and cosmic radiation, which affect many physiological changes in the human organism [1,2]. The molecular mechanisms of adaptation to SF conditions are not fully investigated and are important to study at all stages of long-duration missions on the International Space Station (ISS) [3][4][5]. Due to some technical, logistical and economical limitations (including those caused by weightlessness), the identi cation of changes occurring in the organism onboard of the ISS remains a di cult task [6].…”