Human Stem Cells Show Accelerated Aging โขDuringโค Spaceflight, New Research Reveals
SAN DIEGO, CA -โ Human stem cells age at a faster rate when โexposed โคtoo the conditions โof spaceflight, โขaccording toโค a new studyโ led by researchers at the University of California San Diego. The findings, published recently, offer โcritical insights into the physiological challenges ofโข long-duration space missions and could have implications โfor understanding aging and disease on Earth.
The research focused โฃon hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), โฃvital forโค blood and immune system formation.โ researchers โsent HSPCs to theโ Internationalโ Space Station for periods of 32 toโค 45 days, housed โin specially โคdesigned nanobioreactors for monitoring.A control groupโฃ of cells remained at the Kennedy Space Center โคon Earth.โ
Analysis revealed that the cells exposed to spaceflightโค exhibited reduced โฃself-renewal capabilities and increased vulnerability โฃto DNA damage and mitochondrial inflammation. Importantly,โค the study indicated these changes were not necessarily permanent, โwith partial โreversal observed after the cells were returned to a terrestrial surroundings.
“Space is the ultimate stress testโ for the human body,” statedโข Catriona โขJamieson, director ofโฃ theโค UC San Diego โSanford Stem โCell Institute. “These findings are critically important because they show thatโ the stressors ofโฃ space – โlikeโ microgravity and cosmic galactic radiation โ-โฃ can accelerateโข the molecular agingโ of blood stem โขcells. Understanding these changesโ not only informs how we protect astronauts during long-duration missions but also helpsโ us model human agingโฃ and diseases like cancer here on Earth.”
The study builds onโ existing โขresearch highlighting โthe significant physiological and psychological impacts of extended space โtravel on astronauts. Further investigation isโ ongoing toโ fully understand โฃthe long-termโ consequences of spaceflight on humanโข cellular function.