Abstract
Cancer is a disease exhibiting uncontrollable cell growth and spreading to other parts of the organism. It is a heavy, worldwide burden for mankind with high morbidity and mortality. Therefore, groundbreaking research and innovations are necessary. Research in space under microgravity (µg) conditions is a novel approach with the potential to fight cancer and develop future cancer therapies. Space travel is accompanied by adverse effects on our health, and there is a need to counteract these health problems. On the cellular level, studies have shown that real (r-) and simulated (s-) µg impact survival, apoptosis, proliferation, migration, and adhesion as well as the cytoskeleton, the extracellular matrix, focal adhesion, and growth factors in cancer cells. Moreover, the µg-environment induces in vitro 3D tumor models (multicellular spheroids and organoids) with a high potential for preclinical drug targeting, cancer drug development, and studying the processes of cancer progression and metastasis on a molecular level. This review focuses on the effects of r- and s-µg on different types of cells deriving from thyroid, breast, lung, skin, and prostate cancer, as well as tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, we summarize the current knowledge of the impact of µg on cancerous stem cells. The information demonstrates that µg has become an important new technology for increasing current knowledge of cancer biology.
Highlights
Since the beginning of the age of space travel in the 1960s, the question of if and how microgravity influences whole organisms and cells has been one major focus in the field of space medicine and related disciplines
Next-generation bioreactors aim at producing organoids at reduced volumes, with the prevention of significant failure modes of Rotating Wall Vessels (RWVs), e.g., by decreasing fluid shear perturbations associated with media perfusion and bubble formation [36]
Under r-μg in space or during s-μg, these cells display several morphological changes and alternate their cultivation behavior. These cancer cells are able to differentiate into two distinct phenotypes under μg conditions; one population being maintained as adherently cells located on the bottom of the cultivation flask, and another population aggregating into three-dimensional (3D), multicellular spheroids (MCS) [61–67]
Summary
Since the beginning of the age of space travel in the 1960s, the question of if and how microgravity (μg) influences whole organisms and cells has been one major focus in the field of space medicine and related disciplines. It was found that cell growth under μg could induce a spontaneous assembly of threedimensional (3D)-tissue constructs from cell monolayers, ranging from more amorphous multicellular spheroids (MCS) to more complex vascular intima-like structures [12–18]. This comprehensive review will focus on the impact of μg on cancer cells, which are of particular interest due to possible implications and discoveries, which might help to develop new anti-cancer drugs in the future
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