Bioinformatic Analysis of the Transcriptomes of the Spinal Cord Lumbar Enlargement Cells of Mice under Condition of Hind Limb Unloading and Subsequent Rehabilitation.

Abstract

Modeling of weightlessness in rodents by hind limb unloading (HU) results in the development of musculoskeletal disorders, similar to hypogravity motor syndrome (HMS) that occurs in astronauts during orbital flight. To confirm our hypothesis about the presence of a neurogenic component in the pathogenesis of HMS, a genome-wide study of spinal cord (SC) lumbar enlargement cells of the mice was performed after 30-day HU and a subsequent 7-day recovery period. The changes in the transcriptome of mouse SC cells under HU condition correlate with changes in gene expression in mouse SC cells during space flight, suggesting the involvement of a neurogenic factor in the development of HMS in both modeling hypogravity condition on Earth and conditions of weightlessness. At the same time, after 7 days of rehabilitation, the transcriptome of SC cells did not differ from that in mice after 30 days of HU, which suggests that the negative changes in the SC persisted during the recovery period.