Molecular genetic analysis of neural stem cells after space flight and simulated microgravity on earth.

Understanding how stem cells adapt to space flight conditions is fundamental for human space missions and extraterrestrial settlement. We analyzed gene expression in boundary cap neural crest stem cells (BC), which are attractive for regenerative medicine by their ability to promote proliferation and survival of co-cultured and co-implanted cells. BC were launched to space (space exposed cells) (SEC), on board sounding rocket MASER 14 as free-floating neurospheres or in bioprinted scaffold. For comparison, BC were placed in a random positioning machine (RPM) to simulate microgravity on earth (RPM cells) or were cultured under control conditions in the laboratory. Using Next-Generation RNA sequencing and data post-processing, we discovered that SEC upregulated genes related to proliferation and survival, whereas RPM cells upregulated genes associated with differentiation and inflammation. Thus, i) space flight provides unique conditions with distinctly different effects on the properties of BC compared to earth controls, and ii) the space flight exposure induces post-flight properties that reinforce the utility of BC for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.