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Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment (3rd Edition)
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Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment (3rd Edition)

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: 20 June 2025 | Viewed by 4828

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Khaled Kamal

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Health and Kinesiology, Graduate Faculty of Nutrition, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Interests: microgravity environments; cell biology; oxidative stress; skeletal muscle
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
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, USA
Interests: nitric oxide; free radicals; skeletal muscle function; oxidative stress
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the continuation of our previous Special Issues, “Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment” and “Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment 2.0”.

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:

  1. 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?
  2. What happens to microorganisms, plants, and zoological life at the cellular level?
  3. What mechanisms are essential to the health, well-being, and performance of astronauts during spaceflight and the gravitational alterations?
  4. What type of molecular mechanisms are important: DNA damage, cell cycle regulation, mechanotransduction, cell signaling protein expression, and post-translational alterations?
  5. Is the genome responding in a concerted way by means of epigenetics, chromatin re-organization or via other genome stabilization mechanisms?

Dr. Khaled Kamal
Prof. Dr. John Lawler
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

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Related Special Issues

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 2071 KiB  
Article
The Motility of Mouse Spermatozoa Changes Differentially After 30-Minute Exposure Under Simulating Weightlessness and Hypergravity
by Irina V. Ogneva, Yulia S. Zhdankina, Ksenia K. Gogichaeva, Artyom A. Malkov and Nikolay S. Biryukov
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(24), 13561; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms252413561 - 18 Dec 2024
Viewed by 754
Abstract
Research into the mechanisms by which gravity influences spermatozoa has implications for maintaining the species in deep space exploration and may provide new approaches to reproductive technologies on Earth. Changes in the speed of mouse spermatozoa after 30 min exposure to simulated weightlessness [...] Read more.
Research into the mechanisms by which gravity influences spermatozoa has implications for maintaining the species in deep space exploration and may provide new approaches to reproductive technologies on Earth. Changes in the speed of mouse spermatozoa after 30 min exposure to simulated weightlessness (by 3D-clinostat) and 2 g hypergravity (by centrifugation) were studied using inhibitory analysis. Simulated microgravity after 30 min led to an increase in the speed of spermatozoa and against the background of an increase in the relative calcium content in the cytoplasm. This effect was prevented by the introduction of 6-(dimethylamino) purine, wortmannin, and calyculin A. Hypergravity led to a decrease in the speed of spermatozoa movement, which was prevented by sodium orthovanadate and calyculin A. At the same time, under microgravity conditions, there was a redistribution of proteins forming microfilament bundles between the membrane and cytoplasmic compartments and under hypergravity conditions—proteins forming networks. The obtained results indicate that even a short exposure of spermatozoa to altered gravity leads to the launch of mechanotransduction pathways in them and a change in motility. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment (3rd Edition))
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14 pages, 6038 KiB  
Article
Molecular Signaling Effects behind the Spontaneous Soleus Muscle Activity Induced by 7-Day Rat Hindlimb Suspension
by Xenia V. Sergeeva, Kristina A. Sharlo, Sergey A. Tyganov, Vitaliy E. Kalashnikov and Boris S. Shenkman
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(15), 8316; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25158316 - 30 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1104
Abstract
The elimination of ground reaction force (support withdrawal) vastly affects slow postural muscles in terms of their regulation and structure. One of the effects of support withdrawal in this study was an immediate postural muscle inactivation, followed by the daily gradual development of [...] Read more.
The elimination of ground reaction force (support withdrawal) vastly affects slow postural muscles in terms of their regulation and structure. One of the effects of support withdrawal in this study was an immediate postural muscle inactivation, followed by the daily gradual development of spontaneous activity of the slow postural soleus muscle in response to rat hindlimb suspension to mimic space flight. The origin of this activity is somewhat akin to muscle spasticity after spinal cord injuries and is the result of KCC2 content decline in the spinal cord’s motor neurons. However, the physiological consequences of unloading-induced spontaneous activity remain unexplored. We have conducted an experiment with the administration of a highly specific KCC2 activator during 7-day unloading. For this experiment, 32 male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups: C+placebo, C+CLP-290 (100 mg/kg b w), 7HS+placebo, and 7HS+CLP—hindlimb-suspended group with CLP-290 administration (100 mg/kg b w). The soleus muscles of the animals were dissected and analyzed for several proteostasis- and metabolism-related parameters. CLP-290 administration to the unloaded animals led to the upregulation of AMPK downstream (p-ACC) and mTOR targets (p-p70S6k and p-4E-BP) and an enhanced PGC1alpha decrease vs. the 7HS group, but neither prevented nor enhanced atrophy of the soleus muscle or myofiber CSA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment (3rd Edition))
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11 pages, 2537 KiB  
Article
The Expression of Cell Cycle Cyclins in a Human Megakaryoblast Cell Line Exposed to Simulated Microgravity
by Alisa A. Sokolovskaya, Ekaterina A. Sergeeva, Arkadiy A. Metelkin, Mikhail A. Popov, Irina A. Zakharova and Sergey G. Morozov
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(12), 6484; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25126484 - 12 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1314
Abstract
The study of the physiological and pathophysiological processes under extreme conditions facilitates a better understanding of the state of a healthy organism and can also shed light on the pathogenesis of diseases. In recent years, it has become evident that gravitational stress affects [...] Read more.
The study of the physiological and pathophysiological processes under extreme conditions facilitates a better understanding of the state of a healthy organism and can also shed light on the pathogenesis of diseases. In recent years, it has become evident that gravitational stress affects both the whole organism and individual cells. We have previously demonstrated that simulated microgravity inhibits proliferation, induces apoptosis, changes morphology, and alters the surface marker expression of megakaryoblast cell line MEG-01. In the present work, we investigate the expression of cell cycle cyclins in MEG-01 cells. We performed several experiments for 24 h, 72 h, 96 h and 168 h. Flow cytometry and Western blot analysis demonstrated that the main change in the levels of cyclins expression occurs under conditions of simulated microgravity after 96 h. Thus, the level of cyclin A expression showed an increase in the RPM group during the first 4 days, followed by a decrease, which, together with the peak of cyclin D, may indicate inhibition of the cell cycle in the G2 phase, before mitosis. In addition, based on the data obtained by PCR analysis, we were also able to see that both cyclin A and cyclin B expression showed a peak at 72 h, followed by a gradual decrease at 96 h. STED microscopy data also confirmed that the main change in cyclin expression of MEG-01 cells occurs at 96 h, under simulated microgravity conditions, compared to static control. These results suggested that the cell cycle disruption induced by RPM-simulated microgravity in MEG-01 cells may be associated with the altered expression of the main regulators of the cell cycle. Thus, these data implicate the development of cellular stress in MEG-01 cells, which may be important for proliferating human cells exposed to microgravity in real space. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment (3rd Edition))
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Review

Jump to: Research

23 pages, 1871 KiB  
Review
Microgravity and Cellular Biology: Insights into Cellular Responses and Implications for Human Health
by Nelson Adolfo López Garzón, María Virginia Pinzón-Fernández, Jhan S. Saavedra T., Humberto A. Nati-Castillo, Marlon Arias-Intriago, Camila Salazar-Santoliva and Juan S. Izquierdo-Condoy
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(7), 3058; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26073058 - 27 Mar 2025
Viewed by 798
Abstract
Microgravity, defined by minimal gravitational forces, represents a unique environment that profoundly influences biological systems, including human cells. This review examines the effects of microgravity on biological processes and their implications for human health. Microgravity significantly impacts the immune system by disrupting key [...] Read more.
Microgravity, defined by minimal gravitational forces, represents a unique environment that profoundly influences biological systems, including human cells. This review examines the effects of microgravity on biological processes and their implications for human health. Microgravity significantly impacts the immune system by disrupting key mechanisms, such as T cell activation, cytokine production, and macrophage differentiation, leading to increased susceptibility to infections. In cancer biology, it promotes the formation of spheroids in cancer stem cells and thyroid cancer cells, which closely mimic in vivo tumor dynamics, providing novel insights for oncology research. Additionally, microgravity enhances tissue regeneration by modulating critical pathways, including Hippo and PI3K-Akt, thereby improving stem cell differentiation into hematopoietic and cardiomyocyte lineages. At the organ level, microgravity induces notable changes in hepatic metabolism, endothelial function, and bone mechanotransduction, contributing to lipid dysregulation, vascular remodeling, and accelerated bone loss. Notably, cardiomyocytes derived from human pluripotent stem cells and cultured under microgravity exhibit enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis, improved calcium handling, and advanced structural maturation, including increased sarcomere length and nuclear eccentricity. These advancements enable the development of functional cardiomyocytes, presenting promising therapeutic opportunities for treating cardiac diseases, such as myocardial infarctions. These findings underscore the dual implications of microgravity for space medicine and terrestrial health. They highlight its potential to drive advances in regenerative therapies, oncology, and immunological interventions. Continued research into the biological effects of microgravity is essential for protecting astronaut health during prolonged space missions and fostering biomedical innovations with transformative applications on Earth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Signaling Meet the Space Environment (3rd Edition))
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