Abstract
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has developed mouse habitat cage units equipped with an artificial gravity-producing centrifuge, called the Multiple Artificial-gravity Research System (MARS), that enables single housing of a mouse under artificial gravity (AG) in orbit. This is a report on a hardware evaluation. The MARS underwent improvement in water leakage under microgravity (MG), and was used in the second JAXA mouse mission to evaluate the effect of AG and diet on mouse biological system simultaneously. Twelve mice were divided into four groups of three, with each group fed a diet either with or without fructo-oligosaccharide and housed singly either at 1 g AG or MG for 30 days on the International Space Station, then safely returned to the Earth. Body weight tended to increase in AG mice and decrease in MG mice after spaceflight, but these differences were not significant. This indicates that the improved MARS may be useful in evaluating AG and dietary intervention for space flown mice.
Highlights
The Multiple Artificial-gravity Research System (MARS) developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is a fullyequipped mouse environment for spaceflight with an artificial gravity-producing centrifuge
We evaluated changes in body weight before and after spaceflight in response to FOS content in the diet, as well as in response to artificial gravity (AG) versus MG using the improved MARS,[1] and manuscripts on effect of FOS on gut microbiome and bone health during the spaceflight are in preparation
The failed habitat cage units (HCU) was retrieved from the International Space Station (ISS) and the problem was investigated on the ground
Summary
The Multiple Artificial-gravity Research System (MARS) developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is a fullyequipped mouse environment for spaceflight with an artificial gravity-producing centrifuge. It comprises mouse habitat cage units (HCU), a transportation cage unit (TCU), and a centrifugeequipped biological experiment facility (CBEF).[1] On its first mission, HCUs were found to have developed water leakage under microgravity (MG).[1] Since this leakage may have adversely affected the health of experimental mice, an improvement of MARS was attempted in order to retrieve space flown mice back on the Earth at healthy state. We evaluated changes in body weight before and after spaceflight in response to FOS content in the diet, as well as in response to artificial gravity (AG) versus MG using the improved MARS,[1] and manuscripts on effect of FOS on gut microbiome and bone health during the spaceflight are in preparation
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call