NANOPARTICLES BASED COUNTERMEASURES FOR TREATMENT OF MICROGRAVITY INDUCED OSTEOPOROSIS (NATO)

MG significantly modifies the metabolism of bone leading to site-specific alterations in remodeling of the bone tissue. A decrement in bone formation and an increase in bone resorption determine a significant loss of bone mass causing bone fragility and therefore a greater risk of fractures. The proposed project, that has been selected to fly on the space mission of Cristofoletti in 2015, is focused on the development of the countermeasures to be taken in order to reduce the process of bone demineralization, while promoting a greater deposition of bone matrix. In particular, the innovative aspect of the proposed study concerns the production and the physical-chemical characterization of nanoparticles of hydroxyapatite (nHAP) enriched with Strontium (Sr) and the evaluation of their biological effectiveness on osteoblasts and osteoclasts maturation in the condition of simulated MG and during space flight. The application of nanotechnology and the analysis of gene expression by RNAseq on both cell types incubated in MG would be revealing in this research field. In a future scenario where the astronauts can take appropriate doses of nHAP enriched with Sr, on Earth we may envision: i) reduction of problems related to bone demineralization during the flight and as a result of long stay on the space station; ii) reduction of social costs and improvement of the quality of life of those working in the space; iii) technological transfer to industries for the production and quality assessment of nanoparticles, promoting market competitiveness; and iv) patents applications.