Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for IJMS Edit a Special Issue

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Special Issue "Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment 2.0"

Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2023 | Viewed by 2800

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. John Lawler

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Health and Kinesiology, Graduate Faculty of Nutrition, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Interests: nitric oxide; free radicals; skeletal muscle function; oxidative stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Khaled Kamal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Health and Kinesiology, Graduate Faculty of Nutrition, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Interests: microgravity environments; cell biology; oxidative stress; skeletal muscle

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of our previous Special Issue, “Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment”.

The future of spaceflight missions to the Moon and extended human presence on the Martian surface necessitates seeking answers to the mysteries of organismal adaptation during spaceflight when exposed to microgravity and radiation. In particular, the cellular and molecular adaptations to the microgravitational environments of space travel are critical areas of microgravitational research. Gravity has been a constant stressor throughout evolutionary history on Earth. Therefore, it would be expected that sudden changes in gravitational forces directly catalyze alterations and adaptations in normal biological morphology and function. An important focus of this research topic is:

What are the underlying mechanisms by which a wide range of living organisms can adapt themselves to the space environment without the normal, essential cues for their existence and survival on our planet Earth?
What happens to microorganisms, plants, and zoological life at the cellular level?
What mechanisms are essential to the health, well-being, and performance of astronauts during spaceflight and the gravitational alterations?
What type of molecular mechanisms are important: DNA damage, cell cycle regulation, mechanotransduction, cell signaling protein expression, and post-translational alterations?
Is the genome responding in a concerted way by means of epigenetics, chromatin re-organization or via other genome stabilization mechanisms?

Prof. Dr. John Lawler
Dr. Khaled Kamal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

space exploration
microgravity
space radiation
cellular mechanism
astronaut health

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

Open AccessArticle

The State of the Organs of the Female Reproductive System after a 5-Day “Dry” Immersion

Elena Yu. Gorbacheva

Konstantin A. Toniyan

Yulia A. Biriukova

Nadezhda A. Lukicheva

Oleg I. Orlov

Valery V. Boyarintsev

and

Irina V. Ogneva

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(4), 4160; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24044160 - 19 Feb 2023

Viewed by 586

Abstract

The impact of weightlessness on the female reproductive system remains poorly understood, although deep space exploration is impossible without the development of effective measures to protect women’s health. The purpose of this work was to study the effect of a 5-day “dry” immersion on the state of the reproductive system of female subjects. On the fourth day of the menstrual cycle after immersion, we observed an increase in inhibin B of 35% (p < 0.05) and a decrease in luteinizing hormone of 12% (p < 0.05) and progesterone of 52% (p < 0.05) compared with the same day before immersion. The size of the uterus and the thickness of the endometrium did not change. On the ninth day of the menstrual cycle after immersion, the average diameters of the antral follicles and the dominant follicle were, respectively, 14% and 22% (p < 0.05) higher than before. The duration of the menstrual cycle did not change. The obtained results may indicate that the stay in the 5-day “dry” immersion, on the one hand, can stimulate the growth of the dominant follicle, but, on the other hand, can cause functional insufficiency of the corpus lutea. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment 2.0)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Open AccessArticle

Low-Speed Clinorotation of Brachypodium distachyon and Arabidopsis thaliana Seedlings Triggers Root Tip Curvatures That Are Reminiscent of Gravitropism

and

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(2), 1540; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24021540 - 12 Jan 2023

Viewed by 703

Abstract

Clinostats are instruments that continuously rotate biological specimens along an axis, thereby averaging their orientation relative to gravity over time. Our previous experiments indicated that low-speed clinorotation may itself trigger directional root tip curvature. In this project, we have investigated the root curvature response to low-speed clinorotation using Arabidopsis thaliana and Brachypodium distachyon seedlings as models. We show that low-speed clinorotation triggers root tip curvature in which direction is dictated by gravitropism during the first half-turn of clinorotation. We also show that the angle of root tip curvature is modulated by the speed of clinorotation. Arabidopsis mutations affecting gravity susception (pgm) or gravity signal transduction (arg1, toc132) are shown to affect the root tip curvature response to low-speed clinorotation. Furthermore, low-speed vertical clinorotation triggers relocalization of the PIN3 auxin efflux facilitator to the lateral membrane of Arabidopsis root cap statocytes, and creates a lateral gradient of auxin across the root tip. Together, these observations support a role for gravitropism in modulating root curvature responses to clinorotation. Interestingly, distinct Brachypodium distachyon accessions display different abilities to develop root tip curvature responses to low-speed vertical clinorotation, suggesting the possibility of using genome-wide association studies to further investigate this process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment 2.0)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

Open AccessReview

Drug Discovery Targeting Post-Translational Modifications in Response to DNA Damages Induced by Space Radiation

Dafei Xie

Qi Huang

and

Pingkun Zhou

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(8), 7656; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24087656 - 21 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1092

Abstract

DNA damage in astronauts induced by cosmic radiation poses a major barrier to human space exploration. Cellular responses and repair of the most lethal DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are crucial for genomic integrity and cell survival. Post-translational modifications (PTMs), including phosphorylation, ubiquitylation, and SUMOylation, are among the regulatory factors modulating a delicate balance and choice between predominant DSB repair pathways, such as non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). In this review, we focused on the engagement of proteins in the DNA damage response (DDR) modulated by phosphorylation and ubiquitylation, including ATM, DNA-PKcs, CtIP, MDM2, and ubiquitin ligases. The involvement and function of acetylation, methylation, PARylation, and their essential proteins were also investigated, providing a repository of candidate targets for DDR regulators. However, there is a lack of radioprotectors in spite of their consideration in the discovery of radiosensitizers. We proposed new perspectives for the research and development of future agents against space radiation by the systematic integration and utilization of evolutionary strategies, including multi-omics analyses, rational computing methods, drug repositioning, and combinations of drugs and targets, which may facilitate the use of radioprotectors in practical applications in human space exploration to combat fatal radiation hazards. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment 2.0)

► Show Figures