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Cited by 41Spaceflight effects on biologyImmunotoxicology and immune responsesT-cell and B-cell Immunology

Impact of spaceflight on the murine thymus and mitigation by exposure to artificial gravity during spaceflight

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Horie, Kenta, Kato, Tamotsu, Kudo, Takashi, Sasanuma, Hiroki, Miyauchi, Maki, Akiyama, Nobuko, Miyao, Takahisa, Seki, Takao +12 more·2019·Scientific Reports
DOI 10.1038/s41598-019-56432-9PMC PMC6934594
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Abstract

The environment experienced during spaceflight may impact the immune system and the thymus appears to undergo atrophy during spaceflight. However, molecular aspects of this thymic atrophy remain to be elucidated. In this study, we analysed the thymi of mice on board the international space station (ISS) for approximately 1 month. Thymic size was significantly reduced after spaceflight. Notably, exposure of mice to 1 × g using centrifugation cages in the ISS significantly mitigated the reduction in thymic size. Although spaceflight caused thymic atrophy, the global thymic structure was not largely changed. However, RNA sequencing analysis of the thymus showed significantly reduced expression of cell cycle-regulating genes in two independent spaceflight samples. These reductions were partially countered by 1 × g exposure during the space flights. Thus, our data suggest that spaceflight leads to reduced proliferation of thymic cells, thereby reducing the size of the thymus, and exposure to 1 × g might alleviate the impairment of thymus homeostasis induced by spaceflight.

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Authors
Horie, K., Kato, T., Kudo, T., Sasanuma, H., Miyauchi, M., Akiyama, N., Miyao, T., Seki, T., Ishikawa, T., Takakura, Y., Shirakawa, M., Shiba, D., Hamada, M., Jeon, H., Yoshida, N., Inoue, J.-I., Muratani, M., Takahashi, S., Ohno, H., & Akiyama, T.
Affiliations
  • RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (JP)
  • University of Tsukuba (JP)
  • Institute of Medical Science, The University of Tokyo (JP)
  • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JP)
Corresponding author
  • Ohno, Hiroshi
  • Akiyama, Taishin
ORCID
Venue
Scientific Reports
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2019-12-27
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
19866-19866
ISSN
2045-2322 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1038/s41598-019-56432-9
PMC
PMC6934594
OpenAlex
W2996915774
Cited by
41
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 4
FWCI
2.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Scientific Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • Terrestrial Environment Research Center (University of Tsukuba) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • Novartis Foundation
  • Uehara Memorial Foundation
  • Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (17H04038, 19H04821, 14YPTK-005512, 18H04989, 17K08622, 14YPTK-009179)
  • Princess Takamatsu Cancer Research Fund
  • Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (16H06575, 18H04989, 18H04965, 15H05935, 17K08622, 17H04038)
  • Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (14YPTK-009179, 14YPTK-005512)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Spaceflight effects on biology
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotoxicology and immune responses
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › T-cell and B-cell Immunology
Keywords
spaceflight, thymic atrophy, artificial gravity, centrifugation, cell cycle genes, International Space Station
MeSH terms
RNA-Seq, Animals, Base Sequence, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Space Flight, Thymus Gland, Gravity, Altered, Principal Component Analysis, Mice

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