Contract activities on ISS Russian Segment
Experiment Myocite
Vascular hyporeactivity (loss of vascular muscle tone) is a major health problem in the elderly and sedentary people.
This can be manifested as a loss of consciousness during a quick position change (inorthostatic intolerence). Vascular hyporeactivity is also
a problem for astronauts following spaceflight.
In animal models it has been shown that vascular hyporeactivity is linked to hyporeactivity of muscle cells in the vascular wall. The reactivity of vascular
muscle cells is controlled by calcium fluxes through calcium channels on the muscle cells.
In animal models it has been shown that vascular hyporeactivity is linked to hyporeactivity of muscle cells in the vascular wall. The reactivity of vascular
muscle cells is controlled by calcium fluxes through calcium channels on the muscle cells.
The experiment will investigate the expression of calcium channels in rat cardiac myocytes under microrgravity. The expression following 'short duration' (1 day) and 'long duration' (7 day) exposure to microgravity will be compared to the expression of control cells under 1g.
Objective:
Characterize the effect of microgravity on the expression of calcium channels in Myocytes.
Tasks:
- Determine effect of 'short duration' (2d) microgravity exposure on Myocyte calcium channel expression
- Determine if Myocyte calcium channel expression adapts during 'long duration' (7d) exposure to microgravity.
Science Hardware Used:
- KUBIK 1 incubator with the power cable;
- Myocite Biocontainers (8);
- Cryogem-03M refrigerator/temperature controller container.
Consumables:
Experiment Results:
Biology containers returned to the ground.
Expected Results:
This experiment will help in understanding how microgravity
modulates the function of vascular myocytes, which
is relevant to crew health issues
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