Circulating miRNA Spaceflight Signature Reveals Targets for Countermeasure Development. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • We have identified and validated a spaceflight-associated microRNA (miRNA) signature that is shared by rodents and humans in response to simulated, short-duration and long-duration spaceflight. Previous studies have identified miRNAs that regulate rodent responses to spaceflight in low-Earth orbit, and we have confirmed the expression of these proposed spaceflight-associated miRNAs in rodents reacting to simulated spaceflight conditions. Moreover, astronaut samples from the NASA Twins Study confirmed these expression signatures in miRNA sequencing, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and single-cell assay for transposase accessible chromatin (scATAC-seq) data. Additionally, a subset of these miRNAs (miR-125, miR-16, and let-7a) was found to regulate vascular damage caused by simulated deep space radiation. To demonstrate the physiological relevance of key spaceflight-associated miRNAs, we utilized antagomirs to inhibit their expression and successfully rescue simulated deep-space-radiation-mediated damage in human 3D vascular constructs.

authors

publication date

  • November 25, 2020

Research

keywords

  • Circulating MicroRNA
  • MicroRNAs
  • Weightlessness

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC8441986

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85097462525

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101771

PubMed ID

  • 33242410

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 33

issue

  • 10