Combined Exposure to Simulated Microgravity and Acute or Chronic Radiation Reduces Neuronal Network Integrity and Survival.

During orbital or interplanetary space flights, astronauts are exposed to cosmic radiations and microgravity. However, most earth-based studies on the potential health risks of space conditions have investigated the effects of these two conditions separately. This study aimed at assessing the combined effect of radiation exposure and microgravity on neuronal morphology and survival in vitro.

Modulation of gene expression in endothelial cells in response to high LET nickel ion irradiation.

Ionizing radiation can elicit harmful effects on the cardiovascular system at high doses. Endothelial cells are critical targets in radiation-induced cardiovascular damage. Astronauts performing a long-term deep space mission are exposed to consistently higher fluences of ionizing radiation that may accumulate to reach high effective doses.

Chronic exposure to simulated space conditions predominantly affects cytoskeleton remodeling and oxidative stress response in mouse fetal fibroblasts.

Microgravity and cosmic rays as found in space are difficult to recreate on earth. However, ground-based models exist to simulate space flight experiments. In the present study, an experimental model was utilized to monitor gene expression changes in fetal skin fibroblasts of murine origin.

Transcriptomic profiling suggests a role for IGFBP5 in premature senescence of endothelial cells after chronic low dose rate irradiation.

Purpose: Ionizing radiation has been recognized to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). However, there is no consensus concerning the dose-risk relationship for low radiation doses and a mechanistic understanding of low dose effects is needed.

Material And Methods: Previously, human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were exposed to chronic low dose rate radiation (1.

MorphoNeuroNet: an automated method for dense neurite network analysis.

High content cell-based screens are rapidly gaining popularity in the context of neuronal regeneration studies. To analyze neuronal morphology, automatic image analysis pipelines have been conceived, which accurately quantify the shape changes of neurons in cell cultures with non-dense neurite networks. However, most existing methods show poor performance for well-connected and differentiated neuronal networks, which may serve as valuable models for inter alia synaptogenesis.