Abstract
There is evidence that spaceflight poses acute and late risks to the central nervous system. To explore possible mechanisms, the proteomic changes following spaceflight in mouse brain were characterized. Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) was launched from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on a 13-day mission. Within 3–5 h after landing, brain tissue was collected to evaluate protein expression profiles using quantitative proteomic analysis. Our results showed that there were 26 proteins that were significantly altered after spaceflight in the gray and/or white matter. While there was no overlap between the white and gray matter in terms of individual proteins, there was overlap in terms of function, synaptic plasticity, vesical activity, protein/organelle transport, and metabolism. Our data demonstrate that exposure to the spaceflight environment induces significant changes in protein expression related to neuronal structure and metabolic function. This might lead to a significant impact on brain structural and functional integrity that could affect the outcome of space missions.
Highlights
Long-term deep space missions expose astronauts to an environment that is characterized mainly by ultraviolet and ionizing radiation, microgravity, and physiological/psychological stressors
There were nine and 17 proteins that were significantly altered after spaceflight in the white (Table 1) and gray (Table 2) matter, respectively (p < 0.05, log fold change >1.0 or
There were no significant changes in canonical pathways or upstream regulators in the pathway analysis for either the white or gray matter proteins
Summary
Long-term deep space missions expose astronauts to an environment that is characterized mainly by ultraviolet and ionizing radiation, microgravity, and physiological/psychological stressors. These conditions present a significant hazard to spaceflight crews during and after the course of mission activities. There is some evidence that low-dose, space-relevant radiation induces changes in neuronal functions [1]. Collective evidence indicates that exposure to stressful spaceflight environments might induce changes in brain neuronal structure and function. The pathophysiological consequences and role of cellular mechanisms of stress stimuli, especially those stemming from the spaceflight environment, in facilitating brain damage and neurodegeneration have been studied less and remain unclear
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