Control of Cell Differentiation and Morphogenesis of Amphibian Culture Cells (DomeGene)
Research Area: Cellular Biology
Expedition(s): 18
Principle Investigator(s): ● Makoto Asashima, PhD, National Institute for Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Control of Cell Differentiation and Morphogenesis of
Amphibian Culture Cells (DomeGene) is looking for
upstream genes that respond to the gravitational
changes and regulate downstream pathways such as
the “dome” formation in kidney cells.EARTH BENEFITS
DomeGene will establish innovative methodology in
different scientific disciplines including organisms in
physiology, cell biology, radiation biology, and
developmental biology.
SPACE BENEFITS
Systematic study and detailed molecular mechanisms of the effect of microgravity on living cells
are still lacking. To fully understand the effect of microgravity on human health it is important
to study the microgravity
response of cells of various
organ origins.
RESULTS
Early results revealed that
microgravity exerted little
influence on the
morphological
characteristics of the cells or
on their gene expression
patterns, and that space radiation exerted a greater effect than microgravity, particularly in the
aspects of organ and cancer development. Understanding the microgravity and space radiation
effects on human health leads to the creation of effective countermeasures for future space
life.
PUBLICATION(S)
Ikuzawa M, Asashima M. Global expression of simulated microgravity-responsive genes in
xenopus liver cells. Zoological Science. August 2008; 25(8):828-837. doi: 10.2108/zsj.25.828.
This investigation is complete; however additional results are pending publication.
Morphologic analyses of Xenopus laevis cells. The A6 cells were cultured
under different gravitational conditions. For the A6 cells, dome formation
was suppressed under microgravitational conditions (CBEF[μG]) as
compared with the artificial 1G condition (CBEF[1G]). JAXA image.JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata is working on
the Dome Gene experiment. JAXA image.