Duration: 48 months
During prolonged manned spaceflight the human body is inherently exposed to the lower gravitational force, or microgravity. One of the most impacted systems in the human body is the musculoskeletal system, where both bones and skeletal muscle are significantly reduced in mass and strength. The skeletal muscle system reveals a significant atrophy of the tissue in response to reduced gravity, but the molecular mechanism behind this atrophy remains unknown. In this study, we propose to explore the impact of the gravity spectrum on several skeletal muscle in vitro models. A combination of transcriptomics, qPCR and immunocytochemistries approaches will be used to obtain a better understanding of the molecular and cellular events induced in hyper or microgravity conditions. We will validate our in vitro model by comparing our observations with those made in studies describing muscle atrophy during spaceflight. Additionally, by employing the Reduced Gravity Paradigm / Gravity Continuum we also use simulated hypergravity to extrapolate the effects observed, providing a fundamental understanding of how the system behaves in different gravity conditions. Our study will provide new knowledge on the role and mechanism by which gravity controls skeletal muscle mass and potentially identify key players in this process that could be candidates for pharmaceutical intervention.
