[70]

Spaceflight-induced gene expression changes in the mouse: Results from STS-108.  K. Schweighofer,⁶  T. G. Hammond,^1,2 P. L. Allen,¹,²  L. S. Stodieck,³ P. J. Kostenuik,⁴ T. A. Bateman,⁵ S. Morony,⁴ D. Lacey,⁴, S.Y.C. Chang⁶, and A. Pohorille⁷.¹ Nephrology Section, and Tulane Environmental Astrobiology Center, Tulane University Medical Center and ²VA Medical Center, New Orleans, LA, USA; ³BioServe Space Technologies, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309; ⁴Metabolic Disorders Research, Amgen Incorporated, Thousand Oaks, California 91320; and ⁵Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634; ⁶RIACS, Mountain View California 94041; ⁷NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California 94035

   Several aspects of spaceflight may lead to changes in liver and kidney function including changes in hemodynamics and gravitational loading. C57BL/6 mice were flown on a 12 day space shuttle mission and hepatic and renal tissue harvested immediately upon their return. Gene array analysis suggest tissue specific changes in expression as a result of spaceflight factors, with liver tissue exhibiting a 20% increase over kidney in the number of significant observations. Gene expression profiles for liver versus kidney are markedly different, suggesting that the response to short-duration spaceflight is tissue specific in the mouse. Both tissues, however, show significant up-regulation in metalothioneins 1 and 2 (MtI and MtII), and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP1).  In addition, many genes involved in cell cycle, signal transduction, and cellular damage are altered. Notably absent are changes in the major drug-metabolizing enzymes, and in central metabolism. This demonstrates that space flight factors (at least on short duration) modulate biological processes in subtle, but potentially significant ways.