Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 3, 2025
09:30
Assessing Functional Metrics of Skeletal Muscle Health in Human Skeletal Muscle Microtissues
Published on: February 18, 2021
4.2K
Validation of Human Skeletal Muscle Tissue Chip Autonomous Platform to Model Age-Related Muscle Wasting in
Maddalena Parafati1, Shelby Giza2, Tushar Shenoy1
1University of Florida.
Research Square
|April 10, 2023
Summary
Microgravity affects muscle cells similarly to aging, impacting proliferation and differentiation. Spaceflight revealed unique metabolic and inflammatory changes in young and older adult muscle tissue chips.
Area of Science:
- Space biology
- Muscle physiology
- Tissue engineering
Background:
- Microgravity-induced muscle atrophy in astronauts mirrors age-related sarcopenia.
- Investigating microgravity's molecular effects on bioengineered muscle may elucidate sarcopenia's pathophysiology.
- The Tissue Chips in Space program utilizes advanced models to study spaceflight's impact on human biology.
Approach:
- Three-dimensional myobundles from young and older adults were cultured in an autonomous CubeLab on the International Space Station.
- Global transcriptomic RNA-Seq analysis compared space-flown and ground-control myobundles.
- The study examined cell-autonomous effects of microgravity on muscle cell biology.
Key Points:
- Spaceflight downregulated transcripts related to myoblast proliferation and muscle differentiation in all myobundles.
- Older adult myobundles showed unique gene pathway alterations in muscle metabolism in microgravity.
- Younger adult myobundles exhibited unique modulation of inflammatory pathways in space.
Conclusions:
- Muscle tissue chips offer a novel platform for studying microgravity's cell-autonomous effects on muscle.
- Findings suggest microgravity impacts muscle aging pathways and inflammatory responses.
- The study highlights challenges and opportunities for autonomous tissue-on-chip payloads in space.
