Scientists say experimental treatment has helpedMighty Mice “keep healthy muscle mass during recent stays at one-month intervals.
The treatment prevents muscle and bone damage in astronauts for a long time in space one day. It can also be used to treat people suffering from muscle or bone loss on Earth.
Astronauts in space live in microgravity or weightless environments. In this environment muscles and bones can become weak and lose mass over time.
The US space agency NASA has created special exercise programs for astronauts living on the International Space Station. The goal of the exercises is to limit muscle and bone loss.
But such programs are likely to be ineffective for a very long time Mission Extended investment on the moon or Mars, as planned by NASA for the future. The “Mighty Mice in Space” experiment was conducted to test possible preventive treatments for muscle and bone loss during long space missions.
The project involved 40 female mice launched into space on a SpaceX rocket last December. The animals lived 33 days on the International Space Station before returning to Earth in January.
Sixteen mice were given experimental treatment, including a genetic engineering method. The researchers removed the gene responsible for producing myostatin, a protein that regulates and limits muscle and bone growth.
Mice that lack the yostatin gene – the so-called mighty mice – show muscle growth during the experiment.
At least twice out of eight of these rats had muscle mass twice before being sent into space. During their stay on the space station, the rats kept their muscle mass, the researchers said. Their muscles looked very similar to other mighty mice housed back to Earth at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The 24 mice that did not receive treatment lost a lot of muscle and bone tissue in the space, the researchers said. Those mice lose eight to 18 percent of their weight in individual muscles compared to mice on Earth. They also lost up to 11 percent of bone mineral density – a measure of bone strength.
Eight of the rats received a second compound by astronauts on the space station. In that compound a protein is blocked that limits muscle and bone growth. The rats given this treatment in space increased by 27 percent Lean Body weight, compared to 18 percent in land rats. Bone mineral density also increased in rats receiving the compound – both in space and on the ground, the researchers found.
Some untreated rats were treated after returning to Earth. Researchers have reported that they quickly build more muscle than untreated rats in the laboratory.
The research was led by a team from Jackson Laboratories, a non-profit biomedical research sector based in Bar Harbor, Maine. The results appeared in a recently published study Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Se-Jin Lee, director of the Jackson Laboratory, was the lead author of the study. He told the Associated Press that the experiment identified additional molecules and signaling pathways related to muscle and bone loss that could be used for further investigation. He said he would like to send more “mighty mice” to the space station for further study.
Lee’s wife, Emily German-Lee of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, also participated in the study. Encouraged by the findings, he told the AP that more work needs to be done before humans can be treated to increase muscle and bone mass.
“We have been away for years. “Everything is that way when you go from a mouse to a human study,” German-Lee said.
I’m Brian Lynn.
Brian Lynn wrote the story for VOA Learning English, based on action reports from the Johnson Law Institute, The Associated Press, NASA, and the National Academy of Sciences. Mario Ritter was the editor.
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The words in this story
Mighty – Adjective Too wide, powerful or important
Mission – N. An important task, which usually involves traveling somewhere
Lean – Adjective Thin and healthy
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