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Artificial gravity (AG) by centrifugation is a potential countermeasure to mitigate deleterious musculoskeletal changes associated with microgravity (µG). Prior work showed that exposure to 1G by artificial gravity inhibited musculoskeletal deterioration associated with spaceflight (Shiba et al., 2017). Yet, the responses of the musculoskeletal system to varied magnitudes of AG are not known.
To address this knowledge gap, an interdisciplinary project team of investigators, from the US and from Japan, designed an integrated protocol to assess the effects of varied levels of artificial gravity on various physiologic systems. Our team focused on the musculoskeletal system. Adult (12 weeks) male C57Bl/6J mice were exposed to either microgravity alone (0G), or to 0.33G, 0.67G, or 1G via centrifugation using the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Multiple Artificial-gravity Research System (MARS) during the Joint Partial-Gravity Rodent Research (JPG-RR)/Mouse Habitat Unit 8 (MHU-8) 30-day mission on the International Space Station (n=5-6/group). Ground controls were housed in an identical environment (HGC, n=12). The launch occurred in March 2023, with a successful live animal return in April 2023. Prior to launch and shortly after live animal return, we assessed gait performance, grip strength, bone mass and body composition. Bone and muscle tissues were harvested at necropsy for morphologic and transcriptomic analyses (via bulk RNASeq). In addition, we collected blood cell-depleted femoral bone marrow (n=5-6/group) postflight in the 0G and 1G groups for single-cell RNA sequencing using the Highly Integrated Virtual Environment (HIVE) platform (Honeycomb). Preliminary results indicate that artificial gravity was able to fully- or partially-mitigate deleterious effects of microgravity on the musculoskeletal system, including gait performance, bone mass and microstructure, and muscle morphology. Further, for the first time, we successfully collected spaceflight-flown specimens for analysis by single-cell RNA sequencing (RNASeq).
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Coulombe J, Wadhwa A, Mortreux M, Emerzian S, Brooks DJ, Hanlon J, Chow J, Ciola J, Hu D, Berry S, Gori F, Baron R, Willey J, Fuller C, Takahashi S, Hotz-Vitaterna M, Bouxsein ML. "Response of the murine skeleton to artificial gravity induced by centrifugation on the International Space Station: A NASA-JAXA collaboration." 2024 NASA Human Research Program Investigators Workshop, Galveston TX, February 13-16, 2024. Abstracts: 2024 NASA Human Research Program Investigators Workshop, Galveston TX, February 13-16, 2024. , Feb-2024
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Mortreux M, Sung D-M, Nagy J, Coulombe J, Ciola J, Wadhwa A, Emerzian S, Rutkove S, Willey J, Fuller C, Hotz-Vitaterna M, Takahashi S, Bouxsein ML. "Artificial gravity induced by centrifugation on the International Space Station partially mitigates muscle atrophy in mice." 2024 NASA Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop, Galveston TX, February 13-16, 2024. Abstracts. 2024 NASA Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop, Galveston TX, February 13-16, 2024. , Feb-2024
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Willey JS, Patel CM, Reno K, Kim RY, Coulombe J , Fuller C, Takahashi S, Vitaterna MH, Bouxsein ML. "Artificial gravity during spaceflight prevents gait and performance deficits in a gravity-dose dependent manner." 2024 NASA Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop, Galveston TX, February 13-16, 2024. Abstracts. 2024 NASA Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop, Galveston TX, February 13-16, 2024. , Feb-2024
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Wadhwa A, Mazur CM, Strauss K, Coulombe J, Fuller C, Takahashi S, Hotz-Vitaterna M, Bouxsein ML, Wein MN. "Single cell transcriptomics of femoral bone marrow from rodents exposed to artificial gravity on the International Space Station: A NASA-JAXA collaboration." 2024 NASA Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop, Galveston TX, February 13-16, 2024. Abstracts. 2024 NASA Human Research Program Investigators' Workshop, Galveston TX, February 13-16, 2024. , Feb-2024
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Mortreux M, Sung D-M, Nagy J, Coulombe J, Ciola J, Wadhwa A, Emerzian S, Rutkove S, Fuller CA, Hotz-Vitaterna M, Takahashi S, Willey J, Bouxsein ML. "Artificial gravity induced by centrifugation on the International Space Station mitigates muscle deconditioning in mice: The MHU-8 mission." 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, Washington, DC, November 13-18, 2023. Abstracts. 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, Washington, DC, November 13-18, 2023. , Nov-2023
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Wadhwa A, Coulombe J, Emerzian S, Chow J, Brooks DJ, Willey J, Fuller C, Takahashi S, Hotz-Vitaterna M, Bouxsein ML. "Losses in murine skeletal health are partially mitigated by artificial gravity induced by centrifugation on the International Space Station: A NASA-JAXA collaboration." 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, Washington, DC, November 13-18, 2023. Abstracts. 39th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research, Washington, DC, November 13-18, 2023. , Nov-2023
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Abstracts for Journals and Proceedings
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Coulombe J, Wadhwa A, Mortreux M, Emerzian S, Ciola J, Chow J, Brooks D, Willey J, Fuller C, Takahashi S, Hotz-Vitaterna M, Bouxsein ML. "Response of the murine musculoskeletal system to artificial gravity induced by centrifugation on the International Space Station: A NASA-JAXA collaboration.
" ASBMR 2023 Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 13-16, 2023. Abstracts. ASBMR 2023 Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada, October 13-16, 2023. Poster. , Oct-2023
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Articles in Peer-reviewed Journals
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Coulombe JC, Maridas DE, Chow JL, Bouxsein ML.
"Small animal DXA instrument comparison and validation." Bone. 2024 Jan:178:116923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bone.2023.116923 ; PMID: 37778596
, Jan-2024
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