Macrophage cells counts in both living and preserved cell cultures increased an average of 5.7
fold in flight and an average of 3.9 fold on the ground after 14 and 17 day periods. However, no
changes in receptor expression for M-CSF and no consistent pattern of advanced or retarded
macrophage differentiation (the process of cells becoming more specialized) during spaceflight
were found. There also was a surprising pattern of spaceflight influence on genes involved in
coagulation. Observed changes in gene duplication suggest impacts on the cells from
spaceflight were of a global nature not just on specific cellular communication pathways. There
were no significant differences in gross bone morphology between treatment groups or
changes in the bone marrow cell numbers between flight and ground-control mice. So,
spaceflight did not radically disrupt the distribution of bone marrow cell subpopulations. These
data confirm spaceflight can impact the in vitro development of macrophages from mouse
bone marrow cells (Ortega 2009, 2012).
PUBLICATION(S)
Ortega MT, Lu N, Chapes S. Evaluation of in vitro macrophage differentiation during spaceflight.
Advances in Space Research. 2012;49(10):1441-1455. doi: 10.1016/j.asr.2012.02.021.
Ortega MT, Pecaut MJ, Gridley DS, Stodieck LS, Ferguson VL, Chapes S. Shifts in bone marrow
cell phenotypes caused by spaceflight. Journal of Applied Physiology. February 2009;106(2):548-
- doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.91138.2008.
This investigation is complete and all results are published.