The Impact of Spaceflight and Simulated Microgravity on Cell Adhesion

Lin, Xiuping; Zhang, Kewen; Wei, Daixu; Gao, Yongguang; Chen, Zhihao; Qian, Airong

doi:10.3390/ijms21093031

Cited by 37 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 114 publications

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“…Overall, such findings outline how relevant the adhesion process is in modulating the survival strategy adopted by cells to antagonize cell death in microgravity [ 54 , 55 ]. The extent to which cytoskeleton and other molecular factors are involved in bestowing a proper anti-apoptotic shield likely depends on cell types and on microenvironmental cues [ 56 , 57 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells

Monti

Masiello

Proietti

et al. 2021

IJMS

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Metazoan living cells exposed to microgravity undergo dramatic changes in morphological and biological properties, which ultimately lead to apoptosis and phenotype reprogramming. However, apoptosis can occur at very different rates depending on the experimental model, and in some cases, cells seem to be paradoxically protected from programmed cell death during weightlessness. These controversial results can be explained by considering the notion that the behavior of adherent cells dramatically diverges in respect to that of detached cells, organized into organoids-like, floating structures. We investigated both normal (MCF10A) and cancerous (MCF-7) breast cells and found that appreciable apoptosis occurs only after 72 h in MCF-7 cells growing in organoid-like structures, in which major modifications of cytoskeleton components were observed. Indeed, preserving cell attachment to the substrate allows cells to upregulate distinct Akt- and ERK-dependent pathways in MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells, respectively. These findings show that survival strategies may differ between cell types but cannot provide sufficient protection against weightlessness-induced apoptosis alone if adhesion to the substrate is perturbed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells

Monti

Masiello

Proietti

et al. 2021

IJMS

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“…A recent literature review highlights the complexities of drug stability, safety, and effectiveness in space [ 51 ], and calls for the same studies that we have begun in this work. Another recent literature review [ 52 ] illustrates that the therapeutic targets of some drugs may be altered by microgravity, underscoring the criticality of selecting cell lines and cell types based on their sensitivity to microgravity for better screening of targeted drugs potentially useful for astronaut healthcare and space medicine in general.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microgravity Modulates Effects of Chemotherapeutic Drugs on Cancer Cell Migration

Prasanth

Suresh

Prathivadhi-Bhayankaram

et al. 2020

Life

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Microgravity or the condition of apparent weightlessness causes bone, muscular and immune system dysfunctions in astronauts following spaceflights. These organ and system-level dysfunctions correlate with changes induced at the single cell level both by simulated microgravity on earth as well as microgravity conditions in outer space (as in the international space station). Reported changes in single bone cells, muscle cells and white blood cells include structural/morphological abnormalities, changes in gene expression, protein expression, metabolic pathways and signaling pathways, suggesting that cells mount some response or adjustment to microgravity. However, the implications of such adjustments on many cellular functions and responses are not clear largely because the primary mechanism of gravity sensing in animal cells is unknown. Here, we used a rotary cell culture system developed by NASA to subject leukemic and erythroleukemic cancer cells to microgravity for 48 h and then quantified their innate immune response to common anti-cancer drugs using biophysical parameters and our recently developed quantum-dot-based fluorescence spectroscopy. We found that leukemic cancer cells treated with daunorubicin show increased chemotactic migration (p < 0.01) following simulated microgravity (µg) compared to normal gravity on earth (1 g). However, cells treated with doxorubicin showed enhanced migration both in 1 g and following µg. Our results show that microgravity modulates cancer cell response to chemotherapy in a drug-dependent manner. These results suggest using simulated microgravity as an immunomodulatory tool for the development of new immunotherapies for both space and terrestrial medicine.

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“…TNF-α, mainly secreted by activated macrophages, is an important mediator in the inflammatory response and host defense process [ 76 , 77 ]. However, persistent or inappropriate TNF-α expression causes serious consequences, such as apoptosis and septic shock [ 78 ]. Under microgravity conditions, the suppression of TNF-α in microgravity-induced macrophage malfunction has been widely reported.…”

Section: Macrophages Under Microgravity Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Emerging Role of Macrophages in Immune System Dysfunction under Real and Simulated Microgravity Conditions

Sun

Kuang

Zuo

2021

IJMS

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In the process of exploring space, the astronaut’s body undergoes a series of physiological changes. At the level of cellular behavior, microgravity causes significant alterations, including bone loss, muscle atrophy, and cardiovascular deconditioning. At the level of gene expression, microgravity changes the expression of cytokines in many physiological processes, such as cell immunity, proliferation, and differentiation. At the level of signaling pathways, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway participates in microgravity-induced immune malfunction. However, the mechanisms of these changes have not been fully elucidated. Recent studies suggest that the malfunction of macrophages is an important breakthrough for immune disorders in microgravity. As the first line of immune defense, macrophages play an essential role in maintaining homeostasis. They activate specific immune responses and participate in large numbers of physiological activities by presenting antigen and secreting cytokines. The purpose of this review is to summarize recent advances on the dysfunction of macrophages arisen from microgravity and to discuss the mechanisms of these abnormal responses. Hopefully, our work will contribute not only to the future exploration on the immune system in space, but also to the development of preventive and therapeutic drugs against the physiological consequences of spaceflight.

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The Impact of Spaceflight and Simulated Microgravity on Cell Adhesion

Cited by 37 publications

References 114 publications

Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells

Survival Pathways Are Differently Affected by Microgravity in Normal and Cancerous Breast Cells

Microgravity Modulates Effects of Chemotherapeutic Drugs on Cancer Cell Migration

The Emerging Role of Macrophages in Immune System Dysfunction under Real and Simulated Microgravity Conditions

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