Ground-based assessment of JAXA mouse habitat cage unit by mouse phenotypic studies

Shimbo, Miki; Kudo, Takashi; Hamada, Michito; Jeon, Hyojung; Imamura, Yuki; Asano, Kohei; Okada, Risa; Tsunakawa, Yuki; Mizuno, Seiya; Yagami, Ken Ichi; Ishikawa, Chihiro; Li, Haiyan; Shiga, Takashi; Ishida, Junji; Hamada, Juri; Murata, Katsuyuki; Ishimaru, Tomohiro; Hashimoto, Misuzu; Fukamizu, Akiyoshi; Yamane, Mutsumi; Ikawa, Masahito; Morita, Hironobu; Shirakawa, Masahiro; Asahara, Hiroshi; Akiyama, Taishin; Akiyama, Nobuko; Sasanuma, Hiroyuki; Yoshida, Nobuaki; Zhou, Rui; Wang, Xiaocong; Ito, Taito; Kokubu, Yuko; Noguchi, Taka Aki K.; Ishimine, Hisako; Kurisaki, Akira; Shiba, Dai; Mizuno, Hiroyasu; Shimizu, Masaki; Ito, Naoki; Takeda, Shin’ichi; Takahashi, Satoru

doi:10.1538/expanim.15-0077

Cited by 25 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…To address those concerns, our project team has developed the Transportation Cage Unit (TCU) and Habitat Cage Unit (HCU) 20,21 . The HCU is capable of being installed in the Centrifuge-equipped Biological Experiment Facility (CBEF) on the ISS.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male mice, caged in the International Space Station for 35 days, sire healthy offspring

Matsumura

Noda

Muratani

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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The effect on the reproductive system and fertility of living in a space environment remains unclear. Here, we caged 12 male mice under artificial gravity (≈1 gravity) (AG) or microgravity (MG) in the International Space Station (ISS) for 35 days, and characterized the male reproductive organs (testes, epididymides, and accessory glands) after their return to earth. Mice caged on earth during the 35 days served as a “ground” control (GC). Only a decrease in accessory gland weight was detected in AG and MG males; however, none of the reproductive organs showed any overt microscopic defects or changes in gene expression as determined by RNA-seq. The cauda epididymal spermatozoa from AG and MG mice could fertilize oocytes in vitro at comparable levels as GC males. When the fertilized eggs were transferred into pseudo-pregnant females, there was no significant difference in pups delivered (pups/transferred eggs) among GC, AG, and MG spermatozoa. In addition, the growth rates and fecundity of the obtained pups were comparable among all groups. We conclude that short-term stays in outer space do not cause overt defects in the physiological function of male reproductive organs, sperm function, and offspring viability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male mice, caged in the International Space Station for 35 days, sire healthy offspring

Matsumura

Noda

Muratani

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…Under the μG experiments in the space, JAXA conducted mouse space experiments, called as MHU-1 in 2016. JAXA already prepared the artificial 1G centrifuger in space with a unique mouse cage unit on MHU projects 24,25 . In the present study, MHU-2 project in 2017, we analyzed bone mass of humerus and tibia of the mice that was keeping on breeding at space for 34 days.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experimental designed including the mouse habitant cage unit (HCU) and mouse transportation cage unit (TCU) was established as described in previous report 24,25 . Mice were stayed for 34 days with artificial 1G or μG in the space.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, the experimental circumstances for the microgravity have been quickly advanced by the utilization of space station. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) established a novel mouse cages for the space experiments 24,25 . Various experiments for microgravity have been performed at the Japanese Experimental Module, called as ‘Kibo’, in the International Space Station (ISS).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hypergravity and microgravity exhibited reversal effects on the bone and muscle mass in mice

Tominari

Ichimaru

Taniguchi

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Spaceflight is known to induce severe systemic bone loss and muscle atrophy of astronauts due to the circumstances of microgravity. We examined the influence of artificially produced 2G hypergravity on mice for bone and muscle mass with newly developed centrifuge device. We also analyzed the effects of microgravity (mostly 0G) and artificial produced 1G in ISS (international space station) on mouse bone mass. Experiment on the ground, the bone mass of humerus, femur and tibia was measured using micro-computed tomography (μCT), and the all bone mass was significantly increased in 2G compared with 1G control. In tibial bone, the mRNA expression of bone formation related genes such as Osx and Bmp2 was elevated. The volume of triceps surae muscle was also increased in 2G compared with 1G control, and the mRNA expression of myogenic factors such as Myod and Myh1 was elevated by 2G. On the other hand, microgravity in ISS significantly induced the loss of bone mass on humerus and tibia, compared with artificial 1G induced by centrifugation. Here, we firstly report that bone and muscle mass are regulated by the gravity with loaded force in both of positive and negative on the ground and in the space.

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“…The standard vivarium cages used for housing rodents on Earth are not suitable for spaceflight experiments 22,23 . Therefore, over the years mice and rats have been flown and housed in various cages including the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Habitat Cage 24 , animal carrying space capsules used on the BION-M1 unmanned Russian satellite 25,26,27 , the Mice Drawer System (MDS) designed by the Italian Space Agency 28,29,30 , the NASA Animal Enclosure Module (AEM), and now the NASA Rodent Transporter and Habitats…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Effects of Spaceflight on Mouse Physiology using the Open Access NASA GeneLab Platform

Beheshti

Shirazi‐Fard

Choi

et al. 2019

JoVE

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Performing biological experiments in space requires special accommodations and procedures to ensure that these investigations are performed effectively and efficiently. Moreover, given the infrequency of these experiments it is imperative that their impacts be maximized. The rapid advancement of omics technologies offers an opportunity to dramatically increase the volume of data produced from precious spaceflight specimens. To capitalize on this, NASA has developed the GeneLab platform to provide unrestricted access to spaceflight omics data and encourage its widespread analysis. Rodents (both rats and mice) are common model organisms used by scientists to investigate space-related biological impacts. The enclosure that house rodents during spaceflight are called Rodent Habitats (formerly Animal Enclosure Modules), and are substantially different from standard vivarium cages in their dimensions, air flow, and access to water and food. In addition, due to environmental and atmospheric conditions on the International Space Station (ISS), animals are exposed to a higher CO 2 concentration. We recently reported that mice in the Rodent Habitats experience large changes in their transcriptome irrespective of whether animals were on the ground or in space. Furthermore, these changes were consistent with a hypoxic response, potentially driven by higher CO 2 concentrations. Here we describe how a typical rodent experiment is performed in space, how omics data from these experiments can be accessed through the GeneLab platform, and how to identify key factors in this data. Using this process, any individual can make critical discoveries that could change the design of future space missions and activities.

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Ground-based assessment of JAXA mouse habitat cage unit by mouse phenotypic studies

Cited by 25 publications

References 30 publications

Male mice, caged in the International Space Station for 35 days, sire healthy offspring

Male mice, caged in the International Space Station for 35 days, sire healthy offspring

Hypergravity and microgravity exhibited reversal effects on the bone and muscle mass in mice

Exploring the Effects of Spaceflight on Mouse Physiology using the Open Access NASA GeneLab Platform

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