Table 3.
Ongoing Studies Leveraging Spaceflight for Earth-based research.
| Research Announcement |
Study Title | Institution/Location | Objectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 1.0 (2017) | Organs-on-Chips as a Platform for Studying Effects of Microgravity on Human Physiology: Blood-Brain-Barrier-Chip in Health and Disease | Emulate, Inc./MA | To validate, optimize and further develop Emulate’s proprietary Organs-On-Chips technology platform for experimentation with human cells in space |
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 1.0 (2017) | Cartilage-Bone-Synovium Microphysiological System: Musculoskeletal Disease Biology in Space | Massachusetts Institute of Technology/MA | To study the effects of space flight on musculoskeletal disease biology, motivated by post-traumatic osteoarthritis and bone loss |
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 1.0 (2017) | Microgravity as Model for Immunological Senescence and its Impact on Tissue Stem Cells and Regeneration | University of California, San Francisco/CA | To investigate the relationship between an individual’s immune aging and healing outcomes, and to investigate the biology of aging during microgravity conditions and also during recovery after returning to Earth’s environment |
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 1.0 (2017) | Effects of Microgravity on the Structure and Function of Proximal and Distal Tubule Microphysiological System | University of Washington/WA | To understand how microgravity and other factors affect kidney function |
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 1.0 (2017) | Lung Host Defense in Microgravity | Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia/PA | To test engineered microphysiological systems, or tissue chips, that model the airway and bone marrow; and to combine the models to emulate and understand the integrated immune responses of the human respiratory system in microgravity |
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 2.0 (2018) | Organ-Chips as a Platform for Studying Effects of Space on Human Enteric Physiology: Interactions of Epithelial Mucosa with Sensory Neurons and Microbiome | Emulate, Inc./MA | To further demonstrate Emulate's proprietary Organs-Chips technology applicability by developing the human innervated Intestine-Chip (hiIC) and the cellular, molecular, and immune responses of the system in the unique environment of space |
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 2.0 (2018) | Electrical Stimulation of Human Myocytes in Microgravity: An In Vitro Model to Evaluate Therapeutics to Counteract Muscle Wasting | University of Florida/FL | To refine a tissue chip to study muscle cells and how they respond to stimulation in regular and low-gravity environments |
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 2.0 (2018) | Effect of Microgravity on Drug Responses Using Engineered Heart Tissues | Stanford University/CA | To develop a mini 3-D model of beating heart tissue and use this model to document the ways low gravity causes changes in the structure and function of heart tissue and find out if returning to a normal-gravity environment reverses these effects |
| NIH –NCATS Tissue Chips in Space 2.0 (2018) | A Human iPSC-Based 3-D Microphysiological System for Modeling Cardiac Dysfunction in Microgravity | University of Washington/WA; Johns Hopkins University/MD | To compare heart tissue generated from iPSCs in regular and low-gravity environments and to improve the heart cells’ contractions |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2018-2019) | ISS: Liver Tissue Engineering in Space | University of California, San Francisco/CA | To create a macroscopic, vascularized liver tissue and to characterize the effect of microgravity and directional angiogenic gradients on 3D intercellular interactions and microvascular organization |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2018-2019) | ISS: Tissue Engineered Muscle in Microgravity as a Novel Platform to Study Sarcopenia | Stanford University/CA | To design and characterize an in vitro engineered skeletal muscle platform in microgravity to model sarcopenia |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2018-2019) | ISS: Microphysiologic Model of Human Cardiovascular Stiffness-Related Diseases in Microgravity | Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai/NY | To characterize a multi-tissue in vitro microfluidic human organoid model of the cardiovascular system, to test micro-CV chips on the ISS, and to identify novel disease biomarkers and pathways post-flight |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2018-2019) | ISS: Cellular Mechanotransduction by Osteoblasts in Microgravity | University of Michigan/MI | To determine if microgravity affects osteoblast mechanosensitivity and apply mechanical compression to osteoblasts to see if they recover their mechanosensitivity post-flight |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2018-2019) | ISS/Collaborative Research: Studying the Effects of Microgravity on 3D Cardiac Organoid Cultures | University of Texas, El Paso/TX; Texas A&M/TX | To compare and contrast the morphology, viability, and altered energy metabolism in 3D bioprinted cardiac organoids under microgravity and Earth's gravity and to study the epigenetic changes in 3D bioprinted cardiac organoids under microgravity and assess how these changes may affect the development of cardiac atrophy when compared to Earth's gravity |
| National Stem Cell Foundation (2019-2020) | The Effects of Microgravity on Microglia 3-Dimensional Models of Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis | The Scripps Research Institute/CA; New York Stem Cell Foundation/NY | To examine how microglial cells grow and move in three-dimensional (3D) cultures as well as any changes in gene expression that occur as a result of microgravity exposure |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2020-2021) | ISS: Collaborative Research: 3D Bone Marrow Analogs to Determine the Contribution of Mechanical Signals to Aging MSC Function | Boise State University/ID; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute/NY | To develop a 3D printed bone marrow analog system that combines an in vivo environment with the accessibility of an in vitro culture system |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2020-2021) | ISS: Engineering Multiple-Compartment Cartilage Tissue Construct for Space and Terrestrial Applications | University of Connecticut/CT | To create a construct which can automatically supply itself with mechano-responsive microRNA as a therapy to restore cartilage cell chondrogenesis |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2020-2021) | ISS: Unveiling the Mechanical Roles of Gravity and Buoyancy in Embryonic Brain and Heart Torsion | Dartmouth College/NH | To identify the regulative role of physical forces in the early brain and heart development |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2020-2021) | ISS: Mechanisms of Microgravity Accelerated Aging on Human Brain Organoids | University of California, San Diego/CA | To mechanistically investigate aging phenotypes on human brain organoids infused with microglia |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2020-2021) | ISS: Quantifying the Effect of Unloading on Extracellular Matrix Remodeling in the Musculoskeletal System | University of Colorado/CO | To investigate temporal changes in extracellular matrix proteins in response to, and after recovery from, microgravity |
| NSF-CASIS Tissue Engineering (2020-2021) | ISS: Chip-Based in vitro Modeling of Endocortical Microenvironment with Reduced Gravitational Loading | University of Minnesota/MN | To evaluate cellular response to microgravity in monocultures osteoblasts and osteoclasts |
Abbreviations: NIH, National Institute of Health; NCATS, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences; CAISIS, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space; ISS, International Space Station