iScience (Jul 2022)

Microgravity-induced stress mechanisms in human stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes

  • Aviseka Acharya,
  • Harshal Nemade,
  • Symeon Papadopoulos,
  • Jürgen Hescheler,
  • Felix Neumaier,
  • Toni Schneider,
  • Krishna Rajendra Prasad,
  • Khadija Khan,
  • Ruth Hemmersbach,
  • Eduardo Gade Gusmao,
  • Athanasia Mizi,
  • Argyris Papantonis,
  • Agapios Sachinidis

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 25, no. 7
p. 104577

Abstract

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Summary: Exposure to outer space microgravity poses a risk for the development of various pathologies including cardiovascular disease. To study this, we derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) from human-induced pluripotent stem cells and exposed them to simulated microgravity (SMG). We combined different “omics” and chromosome conformation capture technologies with live-cell imaging of various transgenic lines to discover that SMG impacts on the contractile velocity and function of CMs via the induction of senescence processes. This is linked to SMG-induced changes of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and energy metabolism by mitochondria. Taken together, we uncover a microgravity-controlled axis causing contractile dysfunctions to CMs. Our findings can contribute to the design of preventive and therapeutic strategies against senescence-associated disease.

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