Cancer researchers in search of new discoveries can be deployed on the International Space Station. Biologists have found that studies conducted under microgravity conditions and other experiments in space provide a deeper understanding of abnormal cell behavior.
Cells grown in earth labs are flat. They are not able to completely imitate the three-dimensional architecture, which is formed by proteins and carbohydrates of the working human organ. This does not allow scientists to carefully study changes in the processes of cell growth and development.
In space, cell clusters form more easily, and cells experience less shear stress. At the same time, due to a lack of oxygen and nutrients, many cells can die. This may seem like a flaw, but in fact we are seeing an imitation of a tumor with sections of dead tissue in the center, biologists say.
A cancer cell created under microgravity conditions looks like this:
The CBOSS-1-Ovarian research laboratory, located on board the space station, has a cell incubator for growing three-dimensional clusters. The resulting structures will allow scientists to better understand the production of proteins, which play an important role in cell formation.
Recently, microbiologist Gene Becker of the American company Nano3D Biosciences published in the journal Nature Reviews Cancer a study of microgravity cells, in which she points out the great importance of further space research. The study also describes a cell culture study conducted on the Columbia space shuttle in 1998. Another experiment in space has shown that microgravity leads to a weakening of the immune system.
Space research, along with experiments conducted on Earth, can help biologists better understand the cellular changes leading to the formation of cancerous tumors and develop ways to prevent them.
The problem does not concern naked mole rats - they do not get cancer.
The article is based on materials .
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