Yang Zhao, Robert Johnsen, David Baillie, Ann Rose
{"title":"Worms in space? A model biological dosimeter.","authors":"Yang Zhao, Robert Johnsen, David Baillie, Ann Rose","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although it is well known that radiation causes mutational damage, little is known about the biological effects of long-term exposure to radiation in space. Exposure to radiation can result in serious heritable defects in experimental animals, and in humans, susceptibility to cancer, radiation-sickness, and death at high dosages. It is possible to do ground controlled studies of different types of radiation on experimental animals and to physically measure radiation on the space station or on space probes. However, the actual biological affects of long-term exposure to the full range of space radiation have not been studied, and little information is available about the biological consequences of solar flares. Biological systems are not simply passive recording instruments. They respond differently under different conditions, and thus it is important to be able to collect data from a living animal. There are technical difficulties that restrict the placement of an experimental organism in a space environment for long periods of time, in a manner that allows for the recovery of genetic data. Use of the self-fertilizing hermaphroditic nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans offers potential for the design of a biological dosimeter. In this paper, we describe the advantages of this model system and review the literature of C. elegans in space.</p>","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"11-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24915892","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A D Kulkarni, K Yamauchi, A Sundaresan, G T Ramesh, N R Pellis
{"title":"Countermeasure for space flight effects on immune system: nutritional nucleotides.","authors":"A D Kulkarni, K Yamauchi, A Sundaresan, G T Ramesh, N R Pellis","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microgravity and its environment have adverse effects on the immune system. Abnormal immune responses observed in microgravity may pose serious consequences, especially for the recent directions of NASA for long-term space missions to Moon, Mars and deep Space exploration. The study of space flight immunology is limited due to relative inaccessibility, difficulty of performing experiments in space, and inadequate provisions in this area in the United States and Russian space programs (Taylor 1993). Microgravity and stress experienced during space flights results in immune system aberration (Taylor 1993). In ground-based mouse models for some of the microgravity effects on the human body, hindlimb unloading (HU) has been reported to cause abnormal cell proliferation and cytokine production (Armstrong et al., 1993, Chapes et al. 1993). In this report, we document that a nutritional nucleotide supplementation as studied in ground-based microgravity analogs, has potential to serve as a countermeasure for the immune dysfunction observed in space travel.</p>","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"101-2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25213109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kathleen M Beckingham, J Douglas Armstrong, Michael J Texada, Ravi Munjaal, Dean A Baker
{"title":"Drosophila melanogaster--the model organism of choice for the complex biology of multi-cellular organisms.","authors":"Kathleen M Beckingham, J Douglas Armstrong, Michael J Texada, Ravi Munjaal, Dean A Baker","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drosophila melanogaster has been intensely studied for almost 100 years. The sophisticated array of genetic and molecular tools that have evolved for analysis of gene function in this organism are unique. Further, Drosophila is a complex multi-cellular organism in which many aspects of development and behavior parallel those in human beings. These combined advantages have permitted research in Drosophila to make seminal contributions to the understanding of fundamental biological processes and ensure that Drosophila will continue to provide unique insights in the genomic era. An overview of the genetic methodologies available in Drosophila is given here, together with examples of outstanding recent contributions of Drosophila to our understanding of cell and organismal biology. The growing contribution of Drosophila to our knowledge of gravity-related responses is addressed.</p>","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"17-29"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24915893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exercise and pharmacological countermeasures for bone loss during long-duration space flight.","authors":"Peter R Cavanagh, Angelo A Licata, Andrea J Rice","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bone loss in the lower extremities and lumbar spine is an established consequence of long-duration human space flight. Astronauts typically lose as much bone mass in the proximal femur in 1 month as postmenopausal women on Earth lose in 1 year. Pharmacological interventions have not been routinely used in space, and countermeasure programs have depended solely upon exercise. However, it is clear that the osteogenic stimulus from exercise has been inadequate to maintain bone mass, due to insufficient load or duration. Attention has therefore been focused on several pharmacological interventions that have been successful in preventing or attenuating osteoporosis on Earth. Anti-resorptives are the class of drugs most commonly used to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, notably alendronate sodium, risedronate sodium, zoledronic acid, and selective estrogen receptor modulators, such as raloxifene. There has also been considerable recent interest in anabolic agents such as parathyroid hormone (PTH) and teriparatide (rhPTH [1-34]). Vitamin D and calcium supplementation have also been used. Recent studies of kindreds with abnormally high bone mineral density have provided insight into the genetic regulation of bone mass. This has led to potential therapeutic interventions based on the LRP5, Wnt and BMP2 pathways. Another target is the RANK-L/osteoprotegerin signaling pathway, which influences bone turnover by regulating osteoclast formation and maturation. Trials using such therapies in space are being planned. Among the factors to be considered are dose-response relationships, bone quality, post-use recovery, and combination therapies--all of which may have unique characteristics when the drugs are used in space.</p>","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"39-58"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24915797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bernard M Rabin, Barbara Shukitt-Hale, James Joseph, Paul Todd
{"title":"Diet as a factor in behavioral radiation protection following exposure to heavy particles.","authors":"Bernard M Rabin, Barbara Shukitt-Hale, James Joseph, Paul Todd","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Major risks associated with radiation exposures on deep space missions include carcinogenesis due to heavy-particle exposure of cancer-prone tissues and performance decrements due to neurological damage produced by heavy particles. Because exposure to heavy particles can cause oxidative stress, it is possible that antioxidants can be used to mitigate these risks (and possibly some health risks of microgravity). To assess the capacity of antioxidant diets to mitigate the effects of exposure to heavy particles, rats were maintained on antioxidant diets containing 2% blueberry or strawberry extract or a control diet for 8 weeks prior to exposure to 1.5 or 2.0 Gy of accelerated iron particles at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Following irradiation rats were tested on a series of behavioral tasks: amphetamine-induced taste aversion learning, operant responding and spatial learning and memory. The results indicated that the performance of the irradiated rats maintained on the antioxidant diets was, in general, significantly better than that of the control animals, although the effectiveness of the diets ameliorating the radiation-induced deterioration in performance varied as a function of both the specific diet and the specific endpoint. In addition, animals fed antioxidant diets prior to exposure showed reduced heavy particle-induced tumorigenesis one year after exposure compared to the animals fed the control diet. These results suggest that antioxidant diets have the potential to serve as part of a system designed to provide protection to astronauts against the effects of heavy particles on exploratory missions outside the magnetic field of the earth.</p>","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"71-7"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"24915799","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D K Hammond, J Becker, T F Elliott, K Holubee, T L Baker, J E Love
{"title":"Antigenic protein in microgravity-grown human mixed Mullerian ovarian tumor (LN1) cells preserved in RNA stabilizing agent.","authors":"D K Hammond, J Becker, T F Elliott, K Holubee, T L Baker, J E Love","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"99-100"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25213108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Greg Clark, Araceli Cantero-Garcia, Tim Butterfield, Marianne Dauwalder, Stanley J Roux
{"title":"Secretion as a key component of gravitropic growth: implications for annexin involvement in differential growth.","authors":"Greg Clark, Araceli Cantero-Garcia, Tim Butterfield, Marianne Dauwalder, Stanley J Roux","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"113-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25213115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
P Jackie Duke, Wendy Callejas, Lan Doan, Mary Marsh
{"title":"Phototaxis and aerotaxis in a calcifying alga.","authors":"P Jackie Duke, Wendy Callejas, Lan Doan, Mary Marsh","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"115-6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25213116","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Space shuttle flight environment induces degeneration in the retina of rat neonates.","authors":"J Tombran-Tink, C J Barnstable","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"97-8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25213107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charles A Lambert, Christophe Deroanne, Sandrine Servotte, Pierre Mineur, Charles M Lapiere, Betty Nusgens
{"title":"Cell survival and preservation of siRNA-mediated protein knock-down upon serum-free cryopreservation (-80 degrees C).","authors":"Charles A Lambert, Christophe Deroanne, Sandrine Servotte, Pierre Mineur, Charles M Lapiere, Betty Nusgens","doi":"","DOIUrl":"","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":81348,"journal":{"name":"Gravitational and space biology bulletin : publication of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology","volume":"18 2","pages":"103-4"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"25213110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}