Study investigates the transcriptomic changes in human vascular smooth muscle cells exposed to spaceflight, revealing significant alterations in gene expression affecting cellular function and phenotype.
By Dr. Sanchari Sinha Dutta, Ph.D.Mar 31 2024Reviewed by Benedette Cuffari, M.Sc. In a recent study published in NPJ Microgravity, scientists explore the impact of spaceflight on human vascular smooth muscle cells at the transcriptomic level.
More specifically, human exposure to microgravity can cause muscular atrophy, bone resorption, flattening of the eye, and cardiovascular deconditioning. The latter is characterized by loss of vascular tone, reduced total blood volume, and diminished cardiac output, and it can lead to severe health complications in astronauts.
The pathway analysis of transcriptomic data identified 28 pathways that were significantly inhibited. Comparatively, the phosphatase and tensin homolog signaling and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α /retinoid X receptor α pathways were significantly activated. A total of 22 cardiovascular signaling pathways were also identified, three of which were significantly inhibited. These pathways were involved in cardiac hypertrophy signaling, the role of nuclear factor of activated T-cells in cardiac hypertrophy, and cardiac hypertrophy signaling.
The analysis of cellular component and molecular function terms revealed significant changes in extracellular matrix genes related to both production and cellular adherence. The analysis of biological process terms showed enrichment of cell, cell-cell, and homophilic cell adhesion. Significantly altered expression of genes related to vascular smooth muscle cell contraction, synthetic and osteogenic phenotypes were observed during spaceflight. Most of the components related to these phenotypes, including smooth muscle alpha-actin , matrix metalloproteinases , and bone morphogenic proteins , were downregulated in vascular smooth muscle cells exposed to spaceflight.
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