Customized small-sized clinostat using 3D printing and gas-permeable polydimethylsiloxane culture dish

Abstract

Over the past few decades, research on life in space has increased. Owing to the expensive nature of and the challenges associated with conducting experiments in real space, clinostats, which continuously randomize the gravity vector by using motors, have been used to generate simulated microgravity (SMG) on Earth. Herein, by using a 3D printing method, we develop a customized small-sized clinostat (CS clinostat) that is easy to manufacture, inexpensive, and robust. Moreover, we develop and fabricate a gas-permeable polydimethylsiloxane culture dish that fits inside the CS clinostat. To validate SMG generation, ovarian cancer cells (OV- 90, TOV-21G, and Caov-3) were applied to demonstrate a significant reduction in caveolin-1 expression, a biomarker of SMG, indicating SMG generation. The proposed CS clinostat system has good accessibility for SMG research, which makes it useful as a tool for biologists, who are unfamiliar with conventional clinostat equipment, to conduct preliminary studies in the space environment.