NCATS Tissue Chips in Space Program
Danilo Tagle,
Associate Director for Special Initiatives,
National Institutes of Health
Several human body systems demonstrate physiological changes when subjected to microgravity environment during spaceflight – cardiac dysfunction, decrease in muscle mass, bone density loss, decreased visual acuity, and immunosenescence – and these physiological changes closely mirror some age-related disease states except that microgravity-induced changes can happen in weeks or months compared to years and decades on earth. Through a partnership between NCATS, NASA and the Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the Tissue Chips in Space program was established in 2017 to study the effects of a microgravity environment by deploying tissue chips representing key aspects of the human body at the International Space Station National Laboratory (ISS NL). Through this program, we have learned how microgravity exerts a unique range of stresses and pathophysiological perturbations on the human body resulting in dramatic increase in oxidative stress and inflammation, muscle wasting, immune senescence, cardiovascular deconditioning and cardiomyopathy, and alteration of gene expression. Aside from the scientific benefits of studying human physiological changes in space, the program has also benefited from technological improvements in the miniaturization and automation of tissue chips instrumentation that is requisite for payload deployment and operations at the ISS NL.
The Tissue Chips in Space program will be renewed to focus on the development of multi-organ integrated tissue chip and organ-on-a-chip platforms more closely approximating human body-on-chip systems that model physiological changes associated with hallmarks of aging and related diseases in low earth orbit (LEO). The renewal will also support the use of iPSC-derived organ-specific cell types from diverse groups of people enabling applications in Precision Medicine. This program renewal will enable advances in the study of microgravity-associated conditions mimicking accelerated aging pathophysiology in a relatively shorter period of time than it would take to undertake the same studies on Earth. These advances are expected to lead to better our understanding of the mechanisms controlling age-related conditions and to new countermeasures that can slow or mitigate the process of aging.
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