红细胞是人体内高度特化的细胞,它们的主要功能是确保天然气交换,体内的O2和CO2。暴露于微重力环境会导致多种健康风险,例如影响红细胞的风险。在这项工作中,我们研究了模拟微重力下红细胞结构和功能的变化,与陆地条件相比,在不同的时间点使用生化和生物物理技术。暴露于模拟微重力下的红细胞表现出形态变化,活性氧(ROS)的不断增加,总抗氧化能力(TAC)显著降低,总谷胱甘肽(GSH)浓度显著且持续下降,以及丙二醛(MDA)的增加。此外,进行实验以评估红细胞膜的脂质分布,该脂质分布显示以下膜磷酸胆碱(PC):PC16:0_16:0,PC33:5,PC18:2_18:2,PC15:1_20:4和SMd42:1。因此,在微重力条件下,已发现由于氧化损伤引起的红细胞骨架结构和膜硬度的显着变化,除了有助于红细胞(RBC)可塑性的因素,包括形状,尺寸,细胞粘度和膜刚度。这项研究代表了我们对微重力对红细胞影响的首次研究,随后将进行其他实验,以了解微重力下不同人类细胞类型的行为。
Erythrocytes are highly specialized cells in human body, and their main function is to ensure the gas exchanges, O2 and CO2, within the body. The exposure to
microgravity environment leads to several health risks such as those affecting red blood cells. In this work, we investigated the changes that occur in the structure and function of red blood cells under simulated
microgravity, compared to terrestrial conditions, at different time points using biochemical and biophysical techniques. Erythrocytes exposed to simulated
microgravity showed morphological changes, a constant increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS), a significant reduction in total antioxidant capacity (TAC), a remarkable and constant decrease in total glutathione (GSH) concentration, and an augmentation in malondialdehyde (MDA) at increasing times. Moreover, experiments were performed to evaluate the lipid profile of erythrocyte membranes which showed an upregulation in the following membrane phosphocholines (PC): PC16:0_16:0, PC 33:5, PC18:2_18:2, PC 15:1_20:4 and SM d42:1. Thus, remarkable changes in erythrocyte cytoskeletal architecture and membrane stiffness due to oxidative damage have been found under microgravity conditions, in addition to factors that contribute to the plasticity of the red blood cells (RBCs) including shape, size, cell viscosity and membrane rigidity. This study represents our first investigation into the effects of
microgravity on erythrocytes and will be followed by other experiments towards understanding the behaviour of different human cell types in
microgravity.