Exposure of cartilage tissue models to gravitational transitions associated with spaceflight: implications for interplanetary exploration

Spaceflight is well known to detrimentally affect human musculoskeletal system, implying short-term mobility impairments and long-term tissue alterations upon return to Earth. As part of the musculoskeletal system, joint cartilage is also deemed to be target of deleterious spaceflight effects. By envisioning an increasing female participation to missions of space exploration on a long distance (since NASA Artemis program establishment), it becomes imperative obtaining of a wider comprehension of the effects of gravitational transitions on cartilage tissue in vitro with ground-based models (prior to testing in real spaceflight conditions). For this reason, this study aims at capturing information on transcriptional responses to gravitational transitions by cartilage constructs obtained with SW1353 cells (i.e. derived from a female donor), potentially shedding light onto the molecular bases useful to the treatment of aging-related cartilage alterations.