Short Title:
Microgravity-HS-Retina
Responsible HRP Element:
Human Health Countermeasures
Funding Status:
Completed - Task completed and produced a deliverable
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Procurement Mechanism(s):
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Aims:
This project aims at testing the overall hypothesis that cephalad fluid shifts elicited by either microgravity or hindlimb suspension (HS) represent a stress factor that induces optic disc neuroanatomical changes, as well as retinal cell deterioration and loss via oxidative stress. The first specific aim of this pilot project is to perform histological and gene expression analysis of retinas collected from mice flown in STS-133 and STS-135 and from their ground control counterparts. The second specific aim is to perform similar analysis in retinas from hindlimb suspended rats, focusing on pathways consistent with cellular and oxidative stress, thus validating this ground analog animal model for the study of retinal stress in microgravity. The third specific aim will explore the potential efficacy of reversatrol and EGCG as a nutritional countermeasure to mitigate the risks or retinal oxidative stress and degeneration in conditions of simulated microgravity.
These experiments constitute tissue sharing endeavors among collaborators within and also external to NASA. Dr. Zanello leads the JSC efforts and has collected the eyes of the animals from both of these experiments in order to be used for histological and gene expression analysis.
Category:
Risk Characterization, Quantification
Subcategory:
Evidence or Risk Characterization
Description:
a) Analog validation: this pilot experiment will determine i) The usefulness of the mouse model in microgravity to study degenerative processes in the retina; ii) The hindlimb suspension model as a analog that recapitulates the ocular changes associated with the fluid shifts in microgravity as observed in crewmembers.
b) Countermeasure: this pilot experiment will investigate whether the protective effects of resveratrol on other organ systems are also observed in the eye of rats subjected to the stress elicited by hindlimb suspension.
A final report titled “Effects of microgravity in the rodent retina and hindlimb suspension (HS) as an analog model of ocular alterations associated with cephalad fluid shifts” was delivered to the VIIP project on 3/5/2013.
Internal Customers:
Human Health Countermeasures
External Customers:
None