npj Microgravity最新文献

{"title":"In space fabrication of Janus base nano matrix for improved assembly and bioactivity.","authors":"Anne Yau, Maxwell Landolina, Mari Anne Snow, Pinar Mesci, Brandon Williams, James B Hoying, Jana Stoudemire, Rayyanah Barnawi, Peggy Whitson, Rose Hernandez, Derek Duflo, Honglu Wu, Yupeng Chen","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00482-z","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00482-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nanomaterials have a broad impact on both space and biomedical research but have never been produced in-space for regenerative applications. During the Axiom-2 (Ax-2) mission, our team completed the first-ever low Earth orbit (LEO) manufacturing of Janus base nanomaterials (JBNs) for cartilage tissue regeneration. This fabrication of JBNs in LEO resulted in superior product homogeneity, stability, and loading ability compared to Earth samples, demonstrating the benefits of manufacturing in microgravity.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"32"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12222728/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144555739","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Preliminary considerations for accessible space missions for all.","authors":"Irene Di Giulio, Ryan Anderton, Nicol Caplin, Peter Hodkinson, Mike J Miller-Smith, Marco V Narici, Ross D Pollock, Joern Rittweger, Thomas G Smith, Neil Tucker, Stephen D R Harridge","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00494-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00494-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As new space missions are being prepared, now is the time for accessible designs and approaches. In a workshop, we asked attendees to discuss the adjustments for people with disabilities in relation to the established barriers to human spaceflight. Potential challenges were grouped into medical, physiological, subsistence, and technical. These challenges and potential solutions will inform future space missions and the emerging and more diverse field of space tourism.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"29"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12222775/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144555740","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil conditioning for enhancing plant growth using biochar and hydrochar under microgravity.","authors":"Charles Wang Wai Ng, Yu Chen Wang","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00491-y","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00491-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cultivating plants in outer space is crucial for bioregenerative life support systems in human space exploration. This study aims to investigate the effects of soil conditioning with biochar and hydrochar on the growth and production of Malabar Spinach in microgravity conditions. Peanut shell biochar and wood hydrochar were applied at a 3% dosage by mass. Two gravity conditions were considered, including 1 g and microgravity simulated by a Random Positioning Machine (RPM). After an 18-day plant growth period, microgravity reduced the fresh biomass accumulation of Malabar Spinach by up to 71%. This reduction was attributed to inhibited leaf and root growth, which decreased light interception and nutrient uptake. In microgravity, biochar was more effective than hydrochar in enhancing plant production, mitigating the growth inhibition caused by microgravity. In the presence of biochar, microgravity significantly enhanced the biosynthesis of chlorophyll a and carotenoids by up to 36%. Furthermore, biochar and hydrochar treatments in microgravity conditions significantly increased the nutrient contents, such as K and P, in Malabar Spinach leaves. These findings indicate that biochar and hydrochar are promising soil conditioners for enhancing plant development in low-gravity conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"31"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12222869/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144555741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Light is sufficient to compensate for random positioning machine-simulated microgravity in plant roots.","authors":"Rakesh David, Apriadi Situmorang, Nam Nghiep Tran, Thiri Maythwe, Volker Hessel, Philip B Brewer","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00493-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00493-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Growing food crops for space missions requires significant improvements in technical competence. Many issues remain, including ensuring that roots grow vertically in low gravity. Although plant roots grow towards gravity, they also perceive and bend away from light, allowing for light to substitute for gravity. To explore this issue, we designed a 3D-printed mini-phytotron with adjustable light-emitting diodes to use with a random positioning machine (RPM). Simulated microgravity in the RPM, together with darkness, caused Arabidopsis roots to lose vertical perception, resulting in significantly altered root morphology parameters consistent with gravity loss. This validated the method as an Earth-based analogue and allowed us to test the addition of light. White light as low as 10 μmol m^-² s^-1 compensated for simulated microgravity in the RPM. Red light was less effective than white, and white light at 1 μmol m^-2 s^-1 was much less effective. A dwarf variant of Arabidopsis responded similarly to the wild type, and lettuce roots also responded to light. Food plants in space will require much higher levels than 10 μmol m^-2 s^-1 for photosynthesis, so there are good prospects that light in growth facilities in space will replace gravity for normal root growth, as long as roots can be exposed to some light. The RPM combined with the mini-phytotron was developed here as an inexpensive Earth-based analogue to analyse root growth behaviour to changing light levels under varying gravity conditions and will serve as a valuable experimental platform for further dissection of light responses in roots.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"28"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12216757/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144546127","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Development and flight-testing of modular autonomous cultivation systems for biological plastics upcycling aboard the ISS.","authors":"Xin Liu, Pat Pataranutaporn, Benjamin Fram, Allison Z Werner, Sunanda Sharma, Nicholas P Gauthier, Erika Erickson, Patrick Chwalek, Kelsey J Ramirez, Morgan A Ingraham, Natasha P Murphy, Krista A Ryon, Braden T Tierney, Gregg T Beckham, Christopher E Mason, Ariel Ekblaw","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00463-2","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00463-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cultivation of microorganisms in space has enormous potential to enable in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) Here, we develop an autonomous payload with fully programmable serial passaging and sample preservation, termed the Modular Open Biological Platform (MOBP), and flight-test the MOBP aboard the International Space Station (ISS) by conducting enzymatic and microbial plastics upcycling experiments. The MOBP is a compact, modular bioreactor system that allows for sustained microbial growth via automated media transfers, such as those for sample collection and storage for terrestrial analyses, and precise data monitoring from integrated sensors. The MOBP was flight-tested with two experiments designed to evaluate biological upcycling of the plastic poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The bioproduct βKA can be polymerized into a nylon-6,6 analog with improved properties for use in the production of a variety of materials. We posit the MOBP will aid in democratizing the execution of synthetic biology in spaceflight towards enabling ISRU.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"23"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12198410/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144499335","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"CeO₂ nanomaterial regulates wheat endophytic and rhizospheric bacteria to enhance resistance under simulated microgravity stress.","authors":"Dengbo Chen, Jingjing Cui, Liting Zhao, Pan Xin, Shaocheng Yan, A G Degermendzhi, Yuming Fu, Hong Liu","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00481-0","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00481-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Certain nanomaterials, including cerium dioxide nanoparticle (CeO₂ NP), have shown potential in modulating plant microbial communities to alleviate stressors like simulated microgravity. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, we investigated microbial variations in wheat rhizosphere and endosphere under simulated microgravity. With a 500 mg/L concentration, CeO₂ NP enhanced wheat growth, particularly enhancing roots, increasing stem diameter, root-to-shoot ratio, and improving endophytic microbial diversity with less impact on the rhizospheric community. CeO₂ NP mitigated microgravity impacts by increasing Bacteroidetes, reducing Firmicutes decline, and stabilizing microbial networks. It also enhanced carbohydrate and nucleotide metabolism pathways in rhizospheric microbiota and nucleotide metabolism in endophytic microbiota. Together with wheat metabolomics, these results underscore how CeO₂ NP help wheat adapt to simulated microgravity by aligning microbial activity for an integrated adaptive response. These findings highlight CeO₂ NP's role in mitigating simulated microgravity effects on plants via microbial modulation, offering insights for future applications in space agriculture.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"27"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12185730/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144477852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microgravity alleviates low-dose radiation-induced non-targeted carcinogenic effects.","authors":"Yunan Ding, Ying Xu, Xiaofei Wang, Miaomiao Zhang, Qi Zeng, Congchong Yan, Guangming Zhou, Wentao Hu","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00484-x","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00484-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The main hazards astronauts face in space collectively affect their health, especially increasing the carcinogenesis risk. However, it is still unclear how these hazards, especially microgravity and space radiation, induce the carcinogenic transformation of normal cells. In the simulated microgravity (SMG) environment, although radiation could inhibit SMG-accentuated target cell proliferation, increase genomic instability (GI) and carcinogenic transformation rate dose-dependently, we found that for bystander cells, radiation-induced damage could be reduced, GI and the probability of carcinogenic transformation could also be decreased at lower doses (below 0.1 Gy for X-rays and 0.3 Gy for carbon ions). After filtration and KEGG analysis, five differentially expressed genes (DEGs) relating to carcinogenesis were screened out from the transcriptomic sequencing results. Based on the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) from NCI, we found that AREG was closely related to the occurrence and development of lung cancer. Using AREG knockdown or overexpression cell lines, we further validated the significant correlation between abnormal expression of AREG and GI. Our findings indicate that AREG plays a substantial role in GI and carcinogenic transformation following exposure to SMG and radiation.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"26"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12174362/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144318712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the potential of a bioassembler for protein crystallization in space.","authors":"Christopher MacCarthy, Elizaveta Koudan, Mikhail Shevtsov, Vladislav Parfenov, Stanislav Petrov, Aleksandr Levin, Fedor Senatov, Nina Sykilinda, Sergey Ostrovskiy, Stanislav Pekov, Ivan Gushchin, Igor Popov, Egor Zinovev, Andrey Bogorodskiy, Alexey Mishin, Valentin Ivanovich, Andrey Rogachev, Yusef Khesuani, Valentin Borshchevskiy","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00477-w","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00477-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Protein crystallization holds paramount significance in structural biology, serving as a pivotal technique for unveiling the three-dimensional (3D) architecture of proteins. While microgravity conditions in space offer distinct advantages for high-quality protein crystal growth by mitigating the influences of gravity and convection, the development of reliable techniques for protein crystallization in space with precise control over the crystallization process and its meticulous inspections remains a challenge. In this study, we present an innovative bioassembler-specifically, the 'Organ.Aut'-which we successfully employed to crystallize protein in space. The bioassembler 'Organ.Aut' produced highly ordered crystals diffracted to a true-atomic resolution of ∼1 Å. These data allowed for a detailed examination of atomic structures, enabling thorough structural comparisons with crystals grown on Earth. Our finding suggests that the bioassembler 'Organ.Aut' stands as a promising and viable option for advancing protein crystallization in space.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"25"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12167385/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144295292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sex-specific immune alterations in mice following long-term simulated microgravity and chronic irradiation.","authors":"Edith Nathalie Pineda, Bernice Nounamo, Ruofei Du, Enoch K Larrey, Cordell Gilreath, Harrison Cook, Marjan Boerma, Igor Koturbash, Rupak Pathak","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00480-1","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00480-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Given NASA's plans for manned lunar and Mars missions, it is critical to assess the risk of splenic immune dysregulation by using ground-based models of simulated microgravity (SMG) and/or chronic irradiation (CIR). To address this, C57BL/6 J mice of both sexes exposed to SMG and/or CIR for 29 days and alterations in immune cell distribution, function and phenotype were assessed. SMG and/or CIR altered a greater variety of immune cells in both lymphoid and myeloid lineages in female mice than in male mice; the function of splenic CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells, and CD19 + B cells altered in a sex-specific manner; and the distribution of different immune cells altered based on animal sex. These findings indicate that SMG and/or CIR alter the splenic immune cell distribution, phenotype and function in a sex-specific manner, underscoring the need for tailored strategies to mitigate health risks for crew members on long-term deep-space missions.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"24"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12162859/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144287130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reducing motion sickness during simulated astronaut post-spaceflight water landings using anticipatory cues or postural control.","authors":"Taylor L Lonner, Aaron R Allred, Aadhit R Gopinath, Tori Morgheim, Eric L Groen, Charles M Oman, Paul DiZio, Ben D Lawson, Saige R Drecksler, Torin K Clark","doi":"10.1038/s41526-025-00478-9","DOIUrl":"10.1038/s41526-025-00478-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Astronauts returning to Earth after adapting to microgravity are susceptible to Entry Motion Sickness while they are readapting to 1G. We assessed the efficacy of two countermeasures in reducing the incidence and severity of motion sickness symptoms using a series of ground-based analogs meant to simulate the scenario of a post-spaceflight water landing: one hour of habituation to 2Gx centrifugation followed by up to an hour of passive wave-like motion at 1 G. The first countermeasure provided rich visual cues of current self-motion overlaid with anticipatory cues of self-motion one second in the future, presented in virtual reality with the subject's head and torso restrained. The second countermeasure encouraged active postural control by instructing subjects to keep their unrestrained head aligned with Earth-vertical during wave-like motion. Both groups were compared to a control group that did not receive any Earth-fixed visual cues and had the head and torso restrained. As a secondary metric, we also considered how these countermeasures impacted vestibular-mediated standing balance performance. While the multi-symptom Motion Sickness Questionnaire scores did not significantly differ between the three groups, the development of gastrointestinal symptoms was diminished for the anticipatory visual cues group compared to the control ( <math><mrow><mi>p</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0.03</mn></mrow> </math> ) and active posture ( <math><mrow><mi>p</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0.02</mn></mrow> </math> ) groups. Additionally, the anticipatory cues group was significantly more likely to tolerate the full period of wave-like motion (90% of subjects with cues vs. 33% without, <math><mrow><mi>p</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0.017</mn></mrow> </math> ). Finally, across all three groups, subjects had significantly increased sway ( <math><mrow><mi>p</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0.0002</mn></mrow> </math> ) following wave-like motion, which returned to a baseline equivalency after an hour of recovery. Enabling the brain to form a better expectation of sensory stimulation, anticipatory cues reduce the incidence of nausea, which may be beneficial for motion sickness in astronauts, as well as here on Earth.</p>","PeriodicalId":54263,"journal":{"name":"npj Microgravity","volume":"11 1","pages":"21"},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12130277/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144210232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}