As part of a larger research grant, a bioengineering student and professor at Oregon State University sent three types of cardiac cells on a recent SpaceX resupply mission to the International Space Station.
The materials orbited for 21 days in November, and once they return to OSU in mid-December, the researchers will study the effects very low gravity (microgravity) had on cell growth and health.
"In space you don't have gravitational forces pushing on you, so your muscles are not working as hard as they should, so astronauts come back and they start to faint or have problems with their muscles," explained Ivana Hernandez, the first-year Ph.D. student working with associate professor Binata Joddar on the National Science Foundation-funded project. "Of course the heart is a muscle, so we're trying to see how microgravity induces cardiac atrophy on a cellular level."
The research has applications both on Earth and in space, Hernandez said. If they can figure out what's happening to the heart during space flight, they can develop therapies for cardiac atrophy that will benefit astronauts along with terrestrial patients experiencing cancer or other muscular and cardiac diseases.
The materials that went to space included 3D-printed fibrous scaffolds, on which the three types of cardiac cells could grow into a cardiac organoid. They were placed in a box equipped with automated imaging and feeding systems to keep an eye on the samples and feed the cells throughout their three-week journey. The cells were fed a liquid growth medium that provided all the necessary nutrients for each type of cardiac cell, including amino acids, vitamins and glucose.
"We've already created this in vitro platform so we can start studying which therapies work to regenerate the heart, or therapies that can regress disease," Hernandez said.
When the samples return to OSU, researchers will analyze cardiac-specific biomarkers to assess any changes in cell functionality, Hernandez said. They will also explore any genetic alterations via RNA sequencing, which they expect will yield valuable insights into the effects of very low gravity.
Several other research projects were also included on the rocket bound for the ISS.
The NSF grant was originally awarded in 2019 at the University of Texas at El Paso, when Joddar was working there. Hernandez finished her master's degree at UT this past summer, then moved with Joddar to OSU when Joddar was hired by OSU's College of Engineering starting fall term.
Hernandez is off to a strong start for her first term as a Ph.D. student at OSU: She went to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to prepare the materials for flight and then watched the rocket launch with her experiment on board.
"It was really exciting. As well, I'm from Mexico, and my parents were really proud of it; it's really a big deal," Hernandez said. "Even if it's a lot of projects going up there, there's not a lot of students that can go there, and especially if you're a minority like me, you would not imagine that you'd be able to do that.
"Knowing that my work went there is really exciting -- it's really mind-blowing."