Spaceflight bioreactor studies of cells and tissues

Studies of the fundamental role of gravity in the development and function of biological organisms are a central component of the human exploration of space. Microgravity affects numerous physical phenomena relevant to biological research, including the hydrostatic pressure in fluid filled vesicles, sedimentation of organelles, and buoyancy-driven convection of flow and heat. These physical phenomena can in turn directly and indirectly affect cellular morphology, metabolism, locomotion, secretion of extracellular matrix and soluble signals, and assembly into functional tissues. Studies aimed at distinguishing specific effects of gravity on biological systems require the ability to: (i) control and systematically vary gravity, e.g. by utilizing the microgravity environment of space in conjunction with an in-flight centrifuge; and (ii) maintain constant all other factors in the immediate environment, including in particular concentrations and exchange rates of biochemical species and hydrodynamic shear. The latter criteria imply the need for gravity-independent mechanisms to provide for mass transport between the cells and their environment. Available flight hardware has largely determined the experimental design and scientific objectives of spaceflight cell and tissue culture studies carried out to date. Simple culture vessels have yielded important quantitative data, and helped establish in vitro models of cell locomotion, growth and differentiation in various mammalian cell types including embryonic lung cells [6], lymphocytes [2,8], and renal cells [7,31]. Studies done using bacterial cells established the first correlations between gravity-dependent factors such as cell settling velocity and diffusional distance and the respective cell responses [12]. The development of advanced bioreactors for microgravity cell and tissue culture and for tissue engineering has benefited both research areas and provided relevant in vitro model systems for studies of astronaut well-being (loss of muscle and skeletal tissues [15-17]) and gene- and cell-level responses to the mechanical environment [13,14,18]. All five of the spaceflight bioreactor studies described above utilized three-dimensional cell culture systems in which the cells were associated with biodegradable polymer scaffolds [17], collagen gel [16], or microcarrier beads [13-15,18] in order to promote the expression of differentiated cell function. In four of the five spaceflight bioreactor studies [15-18], cells were cultured in perfused vessels (cartridges or rotating bioreactors) within recirculating loops designed to maintain medium composition within target ranges by a combination of gas exchange and fresh medium supply. Future spaceflight studies of cells and tissues are likely to involve a three-dimensional culture system, to promote cellular differentiation, and perfusion with or without rotation, to provide a gravity-independent mechanism for fluid mixing and mass transport. Previous spaceflight studies have guided the ongoing development of NASA flight hardware for the ISS (e.g. the EDU-2 and the CCU). This next generation of hardware will have extended operational capabilities including on-line microscopy, in-line sensors for the monitoring and control of metabolic parameters, modular design for replicate cultures, and, perhaps most importantly of all, compatibility with the ISS centrifuge. The latter will permit in-flight, 1 g control cultures, and thereby allow the experimental variable to be gravity itself rather than the more general "spaceflight environment". Technical limitations of spaceflight studies (e.g. allowable size, mass, and power) continue to motivate a creative approach to system design and to result in "spin-off" technologies (e.g. the STLV) for ground-based cell and tissue culture research. The increasing scientific and medical relevance of this work is evidenced by the growing number of publications in which advanced bioreactors are used for in vitro studies in physiologically relevant cell and tissue models.