Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Tichy, Elisia D
• Lee, Ji-Hyung
• Li, Grant
• Estep, Katrina N
• Brad Johnson, F
• Mourkioti, Foteini

Titel

Impacts of radiation exposure, hindlimb unloading, and recovery on murine skeletal muscle cell telomere length

Ist Teil von

• NPJ microgravity, 2023-09, Vol.9 (1), p.76-76, Article 76

Ort / Verlag

United States: Nature Publishing Group

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Free E-Journal (出版社公開部分のみ）

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Astronauts are exposed to harsh conditions, including cosmic radiation and microgravity. Spaceflight elongates human telomeres in peripheral blood, which shorten upon return to Earth and approach baseline levels during postflight recovery. Astronauts also encounter muscle atrophy, losing up to 20% loss of muscle mass on spaceflights. Telomere length changes in muscle cells of astronauts remain unexplored. This study investigates telomere alterations in grounded mice experiencing radiation exposure and muscle atrophy, via a hindlimb unloading spaceflight mimicking model. We find telomere lengthening is present in muscle stem cells and in myofiber nuclei, but not in muscle-resident endothelial cells. We further assessed telomere length in the model following hindlimb unloading recovery. We find that telomere length failed to return to baseline values. Our results suggest a role for telomeres in muscle acclimatization, which is relevant for the well-being of astronauts in space, and upon their return to Earth.