Evaluation of Gravity Sensing Mechanisms in Tissue-Engineered Skeletal Muscle

It is well know that extended spaceflight causes significant skeletal muscle atrophy in astronauts. However, the mechanisms that drive this process are not well understood. Previous experiments have shown that spaceflight leads to atrophy in isolated tissue engineered skeletal muscle. We do not know how muscle tissues sense the microgravity environment leading to the muscle atrophy. This educational project intends to fly miniaturized tissue-engineered skeletal muscle constructs on a suborbital reusable launch vehicle and measure real-time passive and active force production. Additionally, these tissues will be fixed with RNAlater at the end of the microgravity period to determine the differential expression of key genes when compared to ground controls. After the flight, the tissues will be processed for functional and gene expression analysis.

Muscle atrophy in microgravity could be a response to a cellular level due to the microgravity conditions. A new sensing mechanism that will help investigate this theory is here tested and will benefit the Academia research on this topic and will ultimately help find solutions for muscle atrophy for long term NASA crewed exploration missions.

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