FIGURE 1.

The morphology and physiology alterations of adherently growing cells after microgravity exposure. Cytoskeleton components of actin, microtubules and intermediate filament are displayed in inset circles. In adherent cells, microtubules form radiation arrangement near nuclear. Actin fibers anchor to cell membranes. Intermediate filament forms loose network around nuclear. Among cells under microgravity influence, the microtubules are shortened and curved. Less actin fibers but more condense intermediate filament are observed. This illustration was inspired by long-term thyroid cells culture in simulated microgravity environment (Kopp et al., 2015; Krüger et al., 2019a).