Hypergravity induces changes of erythrocyte membrane and antioxidant potential of mice housed in the MDS facility

To sustain safe human space exploration, it is important to understand how different effectors, including gravitational forces, influence organisms. Altered levels of gravity affect the physiological function of multiple cells, tissues, and organs in living organisms. Aim of this study was to investigate in vivo the effects of hypergravity on lipid phenotype and metabolism in mice erythrocytes. Indeed, previous studies suggested that microgravity modifies plasma membrane permeability and cellular metabolism in erythrocyte, modifying cholesterol and phospholipid levels. Animals were housed in the Italian Space Agency's Mice Drawer System (MDS-ASI), a facility designed to house rodents on the ISS and adapted by Thales Alenia Space to the Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC-ESA), to expose mice to a 3xg environment for 14 days. After exposure, a tissue-sharing protocol allowed us to purify and analyze the red blood cells. Our results show that the exposure of mice to an altered gravity induced modification in the fatty acid composition and antioxidant system of 3xg mice erythrocytes compared to control mice.