Short Title:
Host Pathogen
Responsible HRP Element:
Space Human Factors and Habitability
Funding Status:
Completed - Task completed and produced a deliverable
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Procurement Mechanism(s):
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Aims:
The aim of this study is to determine if the conditions experienced by both the host and pathogen during co-culture in a spaceflight analogues (NASA designed rotating wall vessel (RWV)
bioreactors, which randomize the gravity vector, simulate many of the mechanistic effects of
microgravity on biological systems) will alter their interactions and thus the risk for infectious disease. The work examines the effect of modeled microgravity (MMG) on the interactions between host (3-D models of human cell cultures) and relevant pathogens (bacterial and viral) when both are simultaneously exposed to MMG. Endpoints to be assayed include adherence, invasion, and intracellular survival profiles, tissue pathology, innate immune responses, and select genomic/proteomic responses of the infected host.
Key findings: 3-D models respond to infection with bacterial and viral pathogens in ways that reflect the infection process in vivo. Work with the models facilitated identification of novel host biosignatures in response to infection (including Salmonella sp, Norwalk virus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and allowed study of infectious disease agents that lack suitable cell culture and animal models.
Category:
Risk Characterization, Quantification
Subcategory:
Evidence or Risk Characterization
Description:
The results provide important insight into the effect of spaceflight on host resistance to infections, and the risk of in-flight infectious disease. The 3D model generated in this study will be used in future research further defining host-microbe interactions during spaceflight.
Internal Customers:
Space Human Factors and Habitability
External Customers:
None