This concise yet comprehensive treatment of the effects of spaceflight on biological systems includes issues at the forefront of life sciences research, such as gravitational biology, immune system response, bone cell formation and the effects of radiation on biosystems. Edited by a leading specialist at the European Space Agency (ESA) with contributions by internationally renowned experts, the chapters are based on the latest space laboratory experiments, including those on SPACELAB, ISS, parabolic flights and unmanned research satellites.
An indispensable source for biologists, medical researchers and astronautics experts alike.
The results of Space flight experiments, ground controls and flight simulations pave the way for a better understanding of gravity reactions in various organisms down to molecular mechanisms. This publication marks also the beginning of a new Space flight era with the construction and exploitation of the International Space Station (ISS) which provides a platform for an in-depth continuation of experiments under weightlessness in Low Earth Orbit and beyond.
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"This is an essential source for biologists, medical researchers and astronautics experts alike." (G.I.T. Laboratory Journal Europe, February 2008)
Foreword.Preface.List of Contributors.Introduction (Enno Brinckmann)
(with contributions from Rene Demets and Wolfgang Herfs).1 Flight Mission
Scenarios.2 Sounding Rocket Experiments.3 Biobox on Foton and in the Space
Shuttle.3.1 Biobox-1.3.2 Biobox-2.3.3 Biobox-3.3.4 Biobox-4.4 Biorack in
Spacelab and Spacehab.1 The Gravity Environment in Space Experiments (Jack J.
W. A. van Loon).1.1 Introduction to Gravity Research.1.1.1 Principle of
Equivalence.1.1.2 Microgravity.1.1.3 Artifi cial Gravity.1.2 Gravity
Phenomena on Small Objects.1.2.1 Sedimentation.1.2.2 Hydrostatic
Pressure.1.2.3 Diffusion.1.2.4 Convection.1.2.5 Diffusion/Convection.1.2.6
Buoyancy.1.2.7 Coriolis Acceleration.2 Primary Responses of Gravity Sensing
in Plants (Markus Braun).2.1 Introduction and Historical Background.2.2
Evolution of Gravity Sensing Mechanisms under the Earth's Gravity
Conditions.2.3 Specifi c Location and Unique Features of Gravity Sensing
Cells.2.4 Correlation between Statolith Sedimentation and Gravitropic
Responses.2.5 Is the Actin Cytoskeleton Involved in Gravity Sensing?2.6
Gravireceptors.2.7 Second Messengers in Gravisignalling.2.8 Modifying
Gravitational Acceleration Forces - Versatile Tools for Studying Plant
Gravity Sensing Mechanisms.2.9 Conclusions and Perspectives.3 Physiological
Responses of Higher Plants (Dieter Volkmann and Frantisek Baluska).3.1
Introduction: Historical Overview.3.2 Terminological Aspects.3.3 Microgravity
as a Tool.3.3.1 Equipment.3.3.2 Testable Hypotheses.3.4 Microgravity as
Stress Factor.3.4.1 Cellular Level.3.4.2 Developmental Aspects.3.5
Gravity-related Paradoxes.3.6 Gravity and Evolution.3.7 Conclusion and
Perspectives.4 Development and Gravitropism of Lentil Seedling Roots Grown in
Microgravity (Gerald Perbal and Dominique Driss-Ecole).4.1 Introduction.4.1.1
Development of Lentil Seedlings on the Ground.4.1.2 Root Gravitropism on
Earth.4.2 Basic Hardware Used to Perform Space Experiments.4.2.1 Plant Growth
Chambers: The Minicontainers.4.2.2 The Glutaraldehyde Fixer.4.3 Development
in Space.4.3.1 Root Orientation in Microgravity.4.3.2 Root Growth.4.3.3 Cell
Elongation.4.3.4 Meristematic Activity.4.4 Root Gravitropism in Space.4.4.1
Organelle Distribution within the Statocyte.4.4.2 Gravisensitivity.4.4.3
Gravitropic Response.4.5 Conclusion.4.5.1 Action of Microgravity on Root
Growth.4.5.2 Gravisensing Cells and Perception of Gravity by Roots.5 Biology
of Adherent Cells in Microgravity (Charles A. Lambert, Charles M. Lapiere,
and Betty V. Nusgens).5.1 Why Cell Biology Research in Microgravity?5.2
Medical Disturbances in Astronauts.5.2.1 Similarity to Diseases on
Earth.5.2.2 Cell Types Potentially Involved.5.3 Mechano-receptivity and
-reactivity of Adherent Cells in Culture.5.3.1 Mechano-transduction at the
Cell-Matrix Contacts.5.3.2 Mechano-transduction at the Cell-Cell
Contacts.5.3.3 The Cytoskeleton Network and its Control by the Small
RhoGTPases.5.3.4 Cells React to Mechanical Stress and Relaxation.5.4
Microgravity, the Loss of a Force, Leading to Cellular Disturbances.5.4.1
Biological View of the Biophysical Concepts.5.4.2 Short Time Microgravity and
Space Flights.5.4.3 Modelled Altered Gravity.5.5 From Ground Research to
Investigations in Microgravity.5.5.1 Testable Hypotheses.5.5.2 Experimental
Strategy and Constraints.5.5.3 The Future.6 Microgravity and Bone Cell
Mechanosensitivity (Rommel G. Bacabac, Jack J. W. A. van Loon, and Jenneke
Klein-Nulend).6.1 Overview.6.2 Introduction.6.3 Mechanotransduction in
Bone.6.4 Signal Transduction in Mechanosensing.6.5 Single Cell Response to
Mechanical Loading.6.6 Rate-dependent Response by Bone Cells.6.7 Implications
of Threshold Activation: Enhanced Response to Stochastic Stress.6.8 Stress
Response and Cellular Deformation.6.9 Towards a Quantitative Description of
Bone Cell Mechanosensitivity.6.10 Implications for the Extreme Condition of
Unloading Microgravity.7 Bone Cell Biology in Microgravity (Geert Carmeliet,
Lieve Coenegrachts, and Roger Bouillon).7.1 Overview.7.2 Introduction.7.3
Bone Remodelling: An Equilibrium between Osteoblasts and Osteoclasts.7.4
Human Studies: Response of Bone to Space Flight.7.5 Space Flight and
Unloading in the Rat Mimics Human Bone Loss.7.6 Mechanisms of Decreased Bone
Formation Induced by Unloading or Space Flight.7.7 Are Osteoblastic Cells In
Vitro Responding to Altered Gravity Conditions?7.7.1 Proliferation and
Apoptosis.7.7.2 Differentiation: Matrix Production.7.7.3 Differentiation:
Growth Factors.7.8 Potential Mechanisms of Altered Osteoblastic Behaviour.7.9
Conclusion.8 Cells of the Immune System in Space (Lymphocytes) (Augusto
Cogoli and Marianne Cogoli-Greuter).8.1 Introduction.8.2 Activation of T
Cells.8.3 Earliest Data.8.4 Spacelab-1, 1983.8.5 Spacelab D-1, 1985.8.6
Stratospheric Balloon, 1986.8.7 Sounding Rockets Maser 3, 1989, and Maser 4,
1990.8.8 Spacelab Life Sciences SLS-1, 1991.8.9 Russian MIR Station, Missions
7, 8, 9, 1988-1990.8.10 Spacelab IML-1, 1992.8.11 Sounding Rockets Maxus 1B,
1992, and Maxus 2, 1995.8.12 Spacelab IML-2, 1994.8.13 Sounding Rocket Maser
9, 2002.8.14 Shuttle Flight STS-107, Biopack, 2003.8.15 Ground
Simulations.8.16 Conclusion.9 Evaluation of Environmental Radiation Effects
at the Single Cell Level in Space and on Earth (Patrick Van Oostveldt, Geert
Meesen, Philippe Baert, and Andre Poffi jn ).9.1 Introduction.9.2 The Space
Radiation Environment.9.3 HZE Track Detection.9.3.1 Confocal Scanning Laser
Microscopy for Track Analysis in PADC.9.3.2 Time-resolved Track Detection.9.4
Results of the RAMIROS Experiment on board of the Soyuz Taxi Flight to the
ISS.9.4.1 Methods.9.4.2 Results and Discussion.9.5 Combination of Radiation
with other Biological Stress in Space Travel.9.6 Interactions between
Radiation and Gravity.9.7 General Conclusions and Perspectives.10 Space
Radiation Biology (Gerda Horneck).10.1 Radiation Scenario in Space.10.1.1
Cosmic Ionizing Radiation.10.1.2 Solar Electromagnetic Radiation.10.2
Questions Tackled in Space Radiation Biology.10.3 Results of Radiobiological
Experiments in Space.10.3.2 Life and Solar Electromagnetic Radiation.10.4
Outlook: Radiation Biology and Future Exploratory Missions in the Solar
System.Index.
Enno Brinckmann, PhD, is the Senior Biologist at the European Space Agency (ESA) and served as Project Scientist for about 100 experiments in ESA's biological research facility BIORACK, that flew six times in SPACELAB and SpaceHab. His experience of active mission control and experiment support contributed to the development of new research facilities for the International Space Station (ISS).
