Establishing molecular mechanisms of and countermeasures to muscle decline in space

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

People must ultimately colonize other planetary bodies in order to avoid extinction. This is a long term goal of the world's space agencies. A major biological hurdle to this long term goal is the decay of muscle during spaceflight. Similarly, the decay of muscle with age is a major public health problem in the UK. We have developed a small worm into a model for understanding and countering the effects of spaceflight and age upon muscle. In space, much like human muscle, the muscles of this worm display decreased expression of muscle proteins as the result of decreased expression of a master regulator of muscle gene expression. These worms, like astronauts, also display hints of altered metabolism as the result of altered insulin effects. Here we propose to test if, as predicted from past spaceflight and ground based experiments, these worms are weaker in space. The testing of muscle strength in space has already been reviewed and approved to be flown by NASA. We also propose to test if altered muscle attachments and/or altered insulin signalling cause the changes in worm muscle in flight and if we can reverse these effects by altering muscle attachments or insulin signalling in space. The testing of causes of and counter measures to muscle decline in space has already been reviewed and approved to be flown by ESA. BBSRC funding for these studies will allow us to carry them out and will enhance our understanding of the molecular causes of, consequences of, and countermeasures to muscle decline in space. Based upon the scores this work received by both NASA and ESA, completion of this work will firmly keep the UK at the forefront of the field of space biology. Additionally, as muscle decline with age is a problem for the UK and elsewhere there is the clear possibility that findings from this work may be relevant to understanding and counting the decline of muscle with age on Earth.