Guest Editors
Ian Johnson
University of South Australia, Research in Space Environments Group, UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences
<p>Dr. Johnson is the leading expert in space biology in UniSA, Adelaide, South Australia. He is a research fellow within the Mechanisms in Cell Biology and Diseases Research Group at UniSA Clinical & Health Sciences, University of South Australia.</p> <p>Ian leads a multi-disciplinary team of researchers in developing and using new technologies to study human development and disease pathogenesis in space environments. Collaborating with space biology experts across the globe, Dr. Johnson and his team at UniSA are using altered-gravity environments to rethink conventional biomedical research. They use these space environments to help pinpoint cellular changes that induce disease pathogenesis such as cancer and metastatic progression. This research may lead to novel therapies or preventive countermeasures, enhancing the quality of life for patients.</p>
Roxy Fournier
University of Toronto
<p>Dr Fournier received her PhD in 2020 from the University of Toronto, working with a nationally recognized expert in cell biology research in space, Dr Rene E. Harrison. Her doctoral work involved studying the effects of microgravity on osteocyte morphology and gene expression and was funded by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to support their human spaceflight program under a Flights and Fieldwork for the Advancement of Science and Technology (FAST) grant. As a result, a new method utilizing a commercially available rotating wall vessel (RWV) was developed, which allows researchers to embed cells in a 3D matrix scaffolding prior to microgravity simulation. The method was recently validated with an osteocyte cell line and replaces the current practice of cell suspension in the RWV on microcarriers because of its potential ability to protect cells from surrounding fluid shear stresses.</p>
Marcus Krüger
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Department of Microgravity and Translational Regenerative Medicine, Cell and Tumor Biology Group
<p>Dr Marcus Krüger is leader of the Cell and Tumor Biology Group in the Department of Microgravity and Translational Regenerative Medicine at the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Dr Krüger obtained his doctorate from the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in 2009 for studies on bacterial tetracycline repressor TetR signal transduction. Through investigation of physical and chemical responses of cells, particularly the effects of gravity, Dr Krüger now engages in space medicine in the lab of Prof Daniela Grimm at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Dr Krüger’s lab investigates the biological and biochemical effects of mechanical stress on cells. The focus is on human tumor cells under microgravity conditions to find new targets for cancer therapies using tissue engineered cancer constructs. His studies have unraveled some remarkably interesting aspects of cancer cell biology that can be used in other approaches to increase efficacy and precision of future cancer therapies and thus enhance survivability and quality of life for cancer patients.</p>
Collection Overview
Human biology has been crafted by gravity and, so too, has disease pathogenesis. Zero g, or microgravity, provides a unique environment for the study of human development and disease that has, until recently, been relatively inaccessible. More than fifty years after the first human missions into space, few would have imagined that we could investigate fundamental cell biology pathways using this environment. Space biology integrates cutting edge cell biology and engineering, providing new avenues to analyse cellular systems, the outcomes of which can be applied to biological processes and pathologies such as cancer or aging-related disease. Importantly, microgravity environments can be simulated on Earth, providing a more accessible and less costly route to microgravity experimentation. This can be achieved using benchtop hardware such as using clinostats, rotating wall vessels, and random positioning machines, or in parabolic flight and sounding rocket campaigns. Investigations of cell biology in space-like environments have revealed significant insights into disease, such as the ability for cells to spontaneously grow multicellular spheroids, providing a model to study cancer pathogenesis and metastasis. As a result of this expanding and important field, this Methods Collection aims to amalgamate the multitude of innovative hardware and techniques that can be used in microgravity research, providing detailed information to assist in performing accurate and reproducible space-based biology investigations.
Articles
Culturing Lymphocytes in Simulated Microgravity Using a Rotary Cell Culture System
0 Views
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Cited by 2
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2022
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1Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 2Krembil Research Institute, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network, 3Pathology and Lab Medicine, Hematopathology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health Systems, 4Medical Oncology and Hematology, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Abstracts
<p>Reliable Soft Tissue Thickness Quantification via Ultrasonography and Automated Image Processing in the Microgravity Context</p>
Jens Tank1,
Jens Jordan1,
Ulrich Limper*1,
Harsh C. Patel2,
Ya-Yu Monica Hew2
1German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Cologne, Germany,
2Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Culture of endothelial cells under physiological flow conditions in microgravity
Joshua Tran1,
Charmaine Lui1,
Max Kim1,
Sang-Joon John Lee1,
Anand Ramasubramanian*1
1San Jose State University
An Integrated 3D Scaffold-Based Platform for Real-Time Calcium Imaging of Osteocyte Mechanotransduction Following Simulated Disuse and Upon Reloading
Kanglun Yu1
1Augusta University