BONE MARROW STROMA CELL DIFFERENTIATION AND MESENCHYMAL TISSUE RECONSTRUCTION
IN MICROGRAVITY (STROMA-2)
Research Area: Cellular Biology
Expedition(s): 13
Principal Investigator(s): ● Ranieri Cancedda, MD, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The Bone Marrow Stroma Cell Differentiation and
Mesenchymal Tissue Reconstruction in
Microgravity (Stroma-2) investigation studies the
potentially osteogenic murine bone marrow
stromal cells in a
3-D culture system.
RESULTS
The study involved 4 groups of cells/Skelite
constructs: Flight Experiment, FE, (spaceflight,
static on orbit, in bioreactors), Flight Control, FC,
(spaceflight, artificial 1 g in orbit, in bioreactors),
Ground Control, GC, (ground 1 g, static, in bioreactors), and Laboratory Control, LC, (ground 1 g,
static in petri dishes). Half of the constructs of each group were maintained in normal growth
medium (BMSC cultures), and the other half was stimulated with osteo-inductive medium (BOI
cultures). Inspection by stereo-microscope showed vigorous cell growth in all BMSC/Skelite
constructs recovered at the end of the experiment; cells grew into a veil-like network, filling
pores and frequently forming snowflake-like aggregates. No major difference in morphology
was seen between BMSC and BOI cultures in all groups.
To maximize yield, since
cells maintained in
RNAlater solution tended
to detach from the
scaffold, RNA was
extracted from the
BMSC/Skelite constructs
and from the solution
recovered from the
bioreactor cell chamber.
Half the amount of total
RNA was obtained from
the FE respective to the
GC samples, and a
comparable amount was
obtained from BMSC and BOI cultures.
Stroma-2 hardware. ESA image.Postflight visual inspection of BMSC (A) and BMSC-osteoinducted (B) by stereo-
microscope. Arrows indicate BMSC grown into the skelite pores. ESA image.