Transcriptomic evidence of erythropoietic adaptation from the International Space Station and from an Earth-based space analog

Guy Trudel; Daniel Stratis; Lynda Rocheleau; Martin Pelchat; Odette Laneuville

doi:10.1038/s41526-024-00400-9

Transcriptomic evidence of erythropoietic adaptation from the International Space Station and from an Earth-based space analog

NPJ Microgravity. 2024 May 13;10(1):55. doi: 10.1038/s41526-024-00400-9.

Authors

Guy Trudel^{1

2

3}, Daniel Stratis⁴, Lynda Rocheleau⁵, Martin Pelchat⁶, Odette Laneuville^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Bone and Joint Research Laboratory, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada. gtrudel@toh.ca.
² Department of Medicine, Division of Physiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 505 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8M2, Canada. gtrudel@toh.ca.
³ Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8M5, Canada. gtrudel@toh.ca.
⁴ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie Private Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada. dstra102@uottawa.ca.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8M5, Canada.
⁶ Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, 451 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8M5, Canada. mpelchat@uottawa.ca.
⁷ Bone and Joint Research Laboratory, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, K1H 8L6, Canada. olaneuvi@uottawa.ca.
⁸ Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie Private Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada. olaneuvi@uottawa.ca.

Abstract

Space anemia affects astronauts and the underlying molecular alterations remain unknown. We evaluated the response of erythropoiesis-modulating genes to spaceflight through the analysis of leukocyte transcriptomes from astronauts during long-duration spaceflight and from an Earth model of microgravity. Differential expression analysis identified 50 genes encoding ribosomal proteins with reduced expression at the transition to bed rest and increased during the bed rest phase; a similar trend was observed in astronauts. Additional genes associated with anemia (15 genes), erythrocyte maturation (3 genes), and hemoglobin (6 genes) were down-regulated during bed rest and increased during reambulation. Transcript levels of the erythropoiesis transcription factor GATA1 and nine of most enriched erythrocyte proteins increased at reambulation after bed rest and at return to Earth from space. Dynamic changes of the leukocyte transcriptome composition while in microgravity and during reambulation supported an erythropoietic modulation accompanying the hemolysis of space anemia and of immobility-induced anemia.

Abstract

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