PharmaSat: drug dose response in microgravity from a free-flying integrated biofluidic/optical culture-and-analysis satellite

Ricco, Antonio J.; Parra, Macarena; Niesel, David W.; Piccini, Matthew; Ly, Diana; McGinnis, Michael J.; Kudlicki, Andrzej; Hines, John W.; Timucin, Linda; Beasley, C.; Ricks, Robert; McIntyre, Michael J.; Friedericks, C.; Henschke, M.; Leung, Ricky; Diaz-Aguado, Millan; Kitts, Christopher; Mas, Ignacio; Rasay, Mike; Agasid, Elwood; Luzzi, Ed; Ronzano, Karolyn; Squires, David; Yost, Bruce

doi:10.1117/12.881082

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…First fully automated self-contained biological experiment to fly on a CubeSat; proved that scientists can design and launch a new class of inexpensive spacecraft, and conduct significant science in space PharmaSat Organism: Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast); provided life support, growth monitoring, and analysis capabilities for yeast in a 48-well microfluidic card; tracked growth by optical density, metabolism with alamarBlue metabolic indicator dye, and the effects of microgravity on yeast susceptibility to antifungal drugs; findings: slower yeast growth in microgravity. At low doses of antifungal, no differences were observed between flight and ground samples; however, significant metabolic activity still observed at higher dose in microgravity (Ricco et al, 2011).…”

Section: Missionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Other notable biological CubeSats followed, with the launch of PharmaSat in 2009, and O/OREOS (Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses) in 2010, which built upon GeneSat-1's experimental and technical heritage. PharmaSat contained optical sensor systems to detect the growth, density, and health of yeast cells and examined how yeast responded to an antifungal treatment, elucidating changes to drug action in space (Ricco et al, 2011). O/OREOS contained two experiment payloads, SEVO (space environment viability of organics) and SESLO (space environment survivability of living organisms).…”

Section: Nasa's Biological Cubesatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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BioSentinel: A Biological CubeSat for Deep Space Exploration

et al. 2023

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BioSentinel is the first biological CubeSat designed and developed for deep space. The main objectives of this NASA mission are to assess the effects of deep space radiation on biological systems and to engineer a CubeSat platform that can autonomously support and gather data from model organisms hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth. The articles in this special collection describe the extensive optimization of the biological payload system performed in preparation for this long-duration deep space mission. In this study, we briefly introduce BioSentinel and provide a glimpse into its technical and conceptual heritage by detailing the evolution of the science, subsystems, and capabilities of NASA's previous biological CubeSats. This introduction is not intended as an exhaustive review of CubeSat missions, but rather provides insight into the unique optimization parameters, science, and technology of those few that employ biological model systems.

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Section: Missionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Nasa's Biological Cubesatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

BioSentinel: A Biological CubeSat for Deep Space Exploration

et al. 2023

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“…R8755), buffered with 0.1 M 3-(N-morpholino) propanesulfonic acid (MOPS, pH 7.0) and containing the redox dye alamarBlue (aB, the chemical name of which is resazurin) (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA) added at a 1:25 dilution of the stock solution [13]. While not a standard B. subtilis growth medium, the RPMI 1640 formulation described above had previously been tested for stability and biocompatibility and was used successfully to cultivate S. cerevisiae in the prior PharmaSat experiment [11,12]. Pre-flight testing of the medium showed it also supported B. subtilis growth well, so it was used for the SESLO experiment.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Building on the design of GeneSat-1, a second 3U nanosat mission called PharmaSat was launched as a secondary payload from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on a Minotaur I rocket on 19 May 2009 and was placed into a 459-km, 40.4 • -inclination orbit [11]. The objectives of the PharmaSat mission were to cultivate the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in space and to compare its level of resistance to the antifungal agent voriconazole in space vs. matched ground control samples [11,12]. Comparison of the optically measured results for the zero-voriconazole-dose microwells in microgravity with those on the ground revealed a longer "lag time" for the spaceflight yeast than the ground specimens, whether measured by cell density (turbidimetry) or metabolism (alamarBlue reduction).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nanosatellites for Biology in Space: In Situ Measurement of Bacillus subtilis Spore Germination and Growth after 6 Months in Low Earth Orbit on the O/OREOS Mission

Nicholson

Ricco

2019

Life

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We report here complete 6-month results from the orbiting Space Environment Survivability of Living Organisms (SESLO) experiment. The world's first and only long-duration live-biology cubesat experiment, SESLO was executed by one of two 10-cm cube-format payloads aboard the 5.5-kg O/OREOS (Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses) free-flying nanosatellite, which launched to a 72 • -inclination, 650-km Earth orbit in 2010. The SESLO experiment measured the long-term survival, germination, metabolic, and growth responses of Bacillus subtilis spores exposed to microgravity and ionizing radiation including heavy-ion bombardment. A pair of radiation dosimeters (RadFETs, i.e., radiation-sensitive field-effect transistors) within the SESLO payload provided an in-situ dose rate estimate of 6-7.6 mGy/day throughout the mission. Microwells containing samples of dried spores of a wild-type B. subtilis strain and a radiation-sensitive mutant deficient in Non-Homologoous End Joining (NHEJ) were rehydrated after 14, 91, and 181 days in space with nutrient medium containing with the redox dye alamarBlue (aB), which changes color upon reaction with cellular metabolites. Three-color transmitted light intensity measurements of all microwells were telemetered to Earth within days of each 24-hour growth experiment. At 14 and 91 days, spaceflight samples germinated, grew, and metabolized significantly more slowly than matching ground-control samples, as measured both by aB reduction and optical density changes; these rate differences notwithstanding, the final optical density attained was the same in both flight and ground samples. After 181 days in space, spore germination and growth appeared hindered and abnormal. We attribute the differences not to an effect of the space environment per se, as both spaceflight and ground-control samples exhibited the same behavior, but to a pair of~15-day thermal excursions, after the 91-day measurement and before the 181-day experiment, that peaked above 46 • C in the SESLO payload. Because the payload hardware operated nominally at 181 days, the growth issues point to heat damage, most likely to component(s) of the growth medium (RPMI 1640 containing aB) or to biocompatibility issues caused by heat-accelerated outgassing or leaching of harmful compounds from components of the SESLO hardware and electronics.

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“…An overview of these small satellites can be seen in Table 2 . PharmaSat launched in 2009 and utilized a three-LED optical sensor to monitor microbial activity, this time testing yeast cells and their response to a fungicide in microgravity [ 27 ]. In 2010, Organism/Organic Exposure to Orbital Stresses (O/OREOS) successfully integrated two independent astrobiology studies in one CubeSat [ 28 ].…”

Section: Biological Cubesat Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space Biology Research and Biosensor Technologies: Past, Present, and Future

et al. 2021

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In light of future missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) and the potential establishment of bases on the Moon and Mars, the effects of the deep space environment on biology need to be examined in order to develop protective countermeasures. Although many biological experiments have been performed in space since the 1960s, most have occurred in LEO and for only short periods of time. These LEO missions have studied many biological phenomena in a variety of model organisms, and have utilized a broad range of technologies. However, given the constraints of the deep space environment, upcoming deep space biological missions will be largely limited to microbial organisms and plant seeds using miniaturized technologies. Small satellites such as CubeSats are capable of querying relevant space environments using novel, miniaturized instruments and biosensors. CubeSats also provide a low-cost alternative to larger, more complex missions, and require minimal crew support, if any. Several have been deployed in LEO, but the next iterations of biological CubeSats will travel beyond LEO. They will utilize biosensors that can better elucidate the effects of the space environment on biology, allowing humanity to return safely to deep space, venturing farther than ever before.

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PharmaSat: drug dose response in microgravity from a free-flying integrated biofluidic/optical culture-and-analysis satellite

Cited by 23 publications

References 0 publications

BioSentinel: A Biological CubeSat for Deep Space Exploration

BioSentinel: A Biological CubeSat for Deep Space Exploration

Nanosatellites for Biology in Space: In Situ Measurement of Bacillus subtilis Spore Germination and Growth after 6 Months in Low Earth Orbit on the O/OREOS Mission

Space Biology Research and Biosensor Technologies: Past, Present, and Future

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