Microgravity effect on murine T cells exposed to suborbital flight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle

Numerous scientific experiments have been conducted in space. However, the precise mechanisms mediating successful human body adaption to the hostile space environment are still not delineated. The cost and logistic challenges of sending biological payloads to International Space Station are forcing scientists to find alternative research platforms. In this study, we investigated whether brief exposure to microgravity during the suborbital flight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket modulated the behavior of the gravity-sensitive murine T cells. We assessed the effect of suborbital environment on different T cell subsets, activation markers, functionality, and cytokine secretion capabilities. Thus, to optimize the potential response of T cells, we cultured them in interleukin IL-2 alone or combined with IL-12. We found that exposure to microgravity decreased the expression of T cells with CD4+ cells being more sensitive to suborbital flight as compared to CD8+ cells. Our data indicate that the functional capabilities of flown T cells were reduced. Also, our findings suggest that supplementing cells with IL-2 and IL-12 cytokines may restore microgravity-mediated cellular alterations. Finally, our study provides insights on the microgravity effect on the murine T cells by utilizing a novel suborbital research platform.