This August August 2020 photo, provided by Dr. Seat-Jin Lee, shows a normal mouse and a “twice-muscled” mouse developed at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine’s Medicine’s Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, Connecticut. 7, 2020, shows that muscle-bound rats, similar to the one pictured, capture their bodybuilder-type physique during a month-long space mission. (By Dr. Se-Sein Jin Lee / Connecticut School of Medicine University of Medicine, AP)
The mutant “mighty mouse”, caught in its muscles during a month-long stay on the International Space Station, returns to Earth with a torn bodybuilder physics, scientists reported Monday.
These findings promise to prevent muscle and bone loss in astronauts on long space travels such as the Mars mission, as well as those on Earth who are confined to bed or in need of a wheelchair.
A research team led by Dr. Se-Jin Lee of the Jackson Laboratory in Connecticut sent 40 young female black mice to the space station in December, departing from a SpaceX rocket.
In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences24 untreated rats lost significant muscle and bone mass in weight loss as expected – up to 18%, Lee said.
But the eight genetically engineered “mighty mice” that started with double muscle retained their bulk. Their muscles looked comparable to the similar “mighty mice” that lagged behind at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
In addition, eight normal rats who received the treatment of “mighty mice” in space returned to Earth with dramatically larger muscles. Treatment involves blocking a pair of proteins that normally limit muscle mass.
The SpaceX capsule brought back all 40 rats parachuting off the coast of California in January in good condition. Lee said some normal mice were injected with the “mighty mouse” drug after returning and quickly built up more muscles than their untreated counterparts.
This August August 2020 photo, provided by Dr. Seat-Jin Lee, shows a normal mouse and a “twice-muscled” mouse developed at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine’s Medicine’s Jackson Laboratory in Farmington, Connecticut. 7, 2020, shows that muscle-bound rats, similar to the one pictured, capture their bodybuilder-type physique during a month-long space mission. (By Dr. Se-Sein Jin Lee / Connecticut School of Medicine University of Medicine, AP)
Scientists completed the experiment as the coronavirus was hitting the U.S.
Lee’s wife, Dr. of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. “The only silver lining of COVID is that we had time to write it very intensively,” said Emily German-Lee, wife of Lee, who took part in the study. Dr. of Medical Center. Said Emily German Lee. Both are affiliated with the University of Connecticut.
When encouraged by their findings, the couple said that without serious side effects, a lot more work needs to be done before testing the drug on people to build muscles and bones.
“We’ve been away for years. But when you go from mouse to human studies, everything is that way,” said German Lee.
Lee said the experiment focused on other molecules and ways to give the right signal to the probe – “the confusion of wealth … a lot of things we want to pursue.” The next step: sending more “mighty mice” to the space station for a longer stay.
Three NASA astronauts took care of the space rats, giving them body scans and injections: Christina Koch and Jessica Merr, who did the first all-female spacewalk last fall, and Andrew Morgan. They are listed as co-authors.
Space-baked cookies, ‘mighty’ mice on Earth via SpaceX
Se-Jin Li Al., “Protects against skeletal muscle and bone damage during spacefight by targeting myostatin / activin.” P.N.A.S. (2020). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2014716117
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Testimonial: ‘Mighty Rats’ Live in Space, Blessings for Astronauts (2020, September 7) 7 September 2020 https://phys.org/news/2020-09-m power-mice-musclebound-space-boon.html
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