How does spaceflight affect the acquired immune system?

Akiyama, Taishin; Horie, Kenta; Hinoi, Eiichi; Hiraiwa, Manami; Kato, Akihisa; Maekawa, Yoichi; Takahashi, Akio; Furukawa, Satoshi

doi:10.1038/s41526-020-0104-1

Cited by 67 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 84 publications

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“…Additional mechanistic studies under microgravity and simulated space environment, but also intervention studies and clinical trials directly in space travelers are needed to support current evidence on pre-, probiotics or combined strategies on Earth, before these microbiota manipulation tools can be integrated into spaceflight clinical practice. The use of prebiotics for the production of SCFAs is currently being investigated for space travel (Matsuda et al, 2019;Akiyama et al, 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut Microbiome and Space Travelers’ Health: State of the Art and Possible Pro/Prebiotic Strategies for Long-Term Space Missions

Turroni

Magnani

et al. 2020

Front. Physiol.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gut Microbiome and Space Travelers’ Health: State of the Art and Possible Pro/Prebiotic Strategies for Long-Term Space Missions

Turroni

Magnani

et al. 2020

Front. Physiol.

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“…This has implications for astronauts and space exploration missions designed to retrieve samples from potentially biotic exo-environments. The effects of exposure to a novel microbe could be exacerbated in astronauts where the human body and the immune system have already been exposed to sustained extreme conditions and environmental stress [45]. Although astronauts have been shown to be able to survive in good health after many months in space, there is evidence that space flight can progressively weaken immune responses [46].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We show that exo-peptides were recognized by the mammalian immune system, but that the strength of the immune response was decreased. We can anticipate that the conditions of space travel impact on the immune system [45]. Astronauts on extended spaceflights experienced already a general decay in T cell function, accompanied by persistent reductions in production of cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-5, IL-6, IL-10, interferon gamma (IFNγ), and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) [51].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Weakened Immune Response to Synthetic Exo-Peptides Predicts a Potential Biosecurity Risk in the Retrieval of Exo-Microorganisms

et al. 2020

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The discovery of liquid water at several locations in the solar system raises the possibility that microbial life may have evolved outside Earth and as such could be accidently introduced into the Earth’s ecosystem. Unusual sugars or amino acids, like non-proteinogenic isovaline and α-aminoisobutyric acid that are vanishingly rare or absent from life forms on Earth, have been found in high abundance on non-terrestrial carbonaceous meteorites. It is therefore conceivable that exo-microorganisms might contain proteins that include these rare amino acids. We therefore asked whether the mammalian immune system would be able to recognize and induce appropriate immune responses to putative proteinaceous antigens that include these rare amino acids. To address this, we synthesised peptide antigens based on a backbone of ovalbumin and introduced isovaline and α-aminoisobutyric acid residues and demonstrated that these peptides can promote naïve OT-I cell activation and proliferation, but did so less efficiently than the canonical peptides. This is relevant to the biosecurity of missions that may retrieve samples from exoplanets and moons that have conditions that may be permissive for life, suggesting that accidental contamination and exposure to exo-microorganisms with such distinct proteomes might pose an immunological challenge.

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“…The biological impact of simulated space radiation on mammalian cells and rodents has been extensively investigated in ground-based experiments. Such studies have shown that space radiation not only has higher cancer risk [ 3 , 4 ], but also negatively affects the function of the cardiovascular [ 5 , 6 ], central nervous [ 7 , 8 ] and immune [ 9 , 10 , 11 ] systems. The effects of μ G on mammalian cells have been studied extensively on the International Space Station (ISS), or by using clinostats for ground-based experiments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simultaneous Exposure of Cultured Human Lymphoblastic Cells to Simulated Microgravity and Radiation Increases Chromosome Aberrations

Yamanouchi

Rhone

Mao

et al. 2020

Life

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During space travel, humans are continuously exposed to two major environmental stresses, microgravity (μG) and space radiation. One of the fundamental questions is whether the two stressors are interactive. For over half a century, many studies were carried out in space, as well as using devices that simulated μG on the ground to investigate gravity effects on cells and organisms, and we have gained insights into how living organisms respond to μG. However, our knowledge on how to assess and manage human health risks in long-term mission to the Moon or Mars is drastically limited. For example, little information is available on how cells respond to simultaneous exposure to space radiation and μG. In this study, we analyzed the frequencies of chromosome aberrations (CA) in cultured human lymphoblastic TK6 cells exposed to X-ray or carbon ion under the simulated μG conditions. A higher frequency of both simple and complex types of CA were observed in cells exposed to radiation and μG simultaneously compared to CA frequency in cells exposed to radiation only. Our study shows that the dose response data on space radiation obtained at the 1G condition could lead to the underestimation of astronauts’ potential risk for health deterioration, including cancer. This study also emphasizes the importance of obtaining data on the molecular and cellular responses to irradiation under μG conditions.

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How does spaceflight affect the acquired immune system?

Cited by 67 publications

References 84 publications

Gut Microbiome and Space Travelers’ Health: State of the Art and Possible Pro/Prebiotic Strategies for Long-Term Space Missions

Gut Microbiome and Space Travelers’ Health: State of the Art and Possible Pro/Prebiotic Strategies for Long-Term Space Missions

A Weakened Immune Response to Synthetic Exo-Peptides Predicts a Potential Biosecurity Risk in the Retrieval of Exo-Microorganisms

Simultaneous Exposure of Cultured Human Lymphoblastic Cells to Simulated Microgravity and Radiation Increases Chromosome Aberrations

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