MOUSE VESSELS RETURNING FROM SPACE

USING MYOGRAPHS TO STUDY THE FUNCTIONALITY

Astronauts face several difficulties after returning from space. Beside muscle and bone wastage, the cardiovascular system also shows signs of maladaptation to space. Changes of the cardiovascular system lead to under-perfusion of the brain and cause symptoms like dizziness, nausea or even blackouts. Therefore it is crucial to understand the morphological and physiological changes occurring in the vasculature of astronauts. The Transplant- and Stemcell Immunobiology (TSI-) Lab of Dr. Schrepfer at the University of California, San Francisco uses DMT myographs to study the vessel functionality of spaceflown mice. Vessels harvested from mice that had lived on the International Space Station (ISS) will be compared to vessels from ground control mice. By using vasoconstrictors and -dilators, Dr. Schrepfer investigates the functional properties of the vessels and gets knowledge of how spaceflight will affect the vasculature. The gained knowledge will not only impact the health of astronaut, at the same time it will increase the understanding of biological processes that will benefit the health of humans on earth.​