Microfluidics-integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space Station
Abstract Caenorhabditis elegans is a low-cost genetic model that has been flown to the International Space Station to investigate the influence of microgravity on changes in the expression of genes involved in muscle maintenance. These studies showed that genes that encode muscle attachment complexe...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-11-01
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| Series: | npj Microgravity |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-022-00241-4 |
| _version_ | 1797425275141619712 |
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| author | Purushottam Soni Taslim Anupom Leila Lesanpezeshki Mizanur Rahman Jennifer E. Hewitt Matthew Vellone Louis Stodieck Jerzy Blawzdziewicz Nathaniel J. Szewczyk Siva A. Vanapalli |
| author_facet | Purushottam Soni Taslim Anupom Leila Lesanpezeshki Mizanur Rahman Jennifer E. Hewitt Matthew Vellone Louis Stodieck Jerzy Blawzdziewicz Nathaniel J. Szewczyk Siva A. Vanapalli |
| author_sort | Purushottam Soni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Caenorhabditis elegans is a low-cost genetic model that has been flown to the International Space Station to investigate the influence of microgravity on changes in the expression of genes involved in muscle maintenance. These studies showed that genes that encode muscle attachment complexes have decreased expression under microgravity. However, it remains to be answered whether the decreased expression leads to concomitant changes in animal muscle strength, specifically across multiple generations. We recently reported the NemaFlex microfluidic device for the measurement of muscle strength of C. elegans (Rahman et al., Lab Chip, 2018). In this study, we redesign our original NemaFlex device and integrate it with flow control hardware for spaceflight investigations considering mixed animal culture, constraints on astronaut time, crew safety, and on-orbit operations. The technical advances we have made include (i) a microfluidic device design that allows animals of a given size to be sorted from unsynchronized cultures and housed in individual chambers, (ii) a fluid handling protocol for injecting the suspension of animals into the microfluidic device that prevents channel clogging, introduction of bubbles, and crowding of animals in the chambers, and (iii) a custom-built worm-loading apparatus interfaced with the microfluidic device that allows easy manipulation of the worm suspension and prevents fluid leakage into the surrounding environment. Collectively, these technical advances enabled the development of new microfluidics-integrated hardware for spaceflight studies in C. elegans. Finally, we report Earth-based validation studies to test this new hardware, which has led to it being flown to the International Space Station. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:13:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8b23603b71234b0a8c370eece5ad88c9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2373-8065 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:13:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | npj Microgravity |
| spelling | doaj.art-8b23603b71234b0a8c370eece5ad88c92023-12-02T22:53:56ZengNature Portfolionpj Microgravity2373-80652022-11-018111210.1038/s41526-022-00241-4Microfluidics-integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space StationPurushottam Soni0Taslim Anupom1Leila Lesanpezeshki2Mizanur Rahman3Jennifer E. Hewitt4Matthew Vellone5Louis Stodieck6Jerzy Blawzdziewicz7Nathaniel J. Szewczyk8Siva A. Vanapalli9Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech UniversityDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Texas Tech UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech UniversityBioServe Space TechnologiesBioServe Space TechnologiesDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech UniversityOhio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio UniversityDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Texas Tech UniversityAbstract Caenorhabditis elegans is a low-cost genetic model that has been flown to the International Space Station to investigate the influence of microgravity on changes in the expression of genes involved in muscle maintenance. These studies showed that genes that encode muscle attachment complexes have decreased expression under microgravity. However, it remains to be answered whether the decreased expression leads to concomitant changes in animal muscle strength, specifically across multiple generations. We recently reported the NemaFlex microfluidic device for the measurement of muscle strength of C. elegans (Rahman et al., Lab Chip, 2018). In this study, we redesign our original NemaFlex device and integrate it with flow control hardware for spaceflight investigations considering mixed animal culture, constraints on astronaut time, crew safety, and on-orbit operations. The technical advances we have made include (i) a microfluidic device design that allows animals of a given size to be sorted from unsynchronized cultures and housed in individual chambers, (ii) a fluid handling protocol for injecting the suspension of animals into the microfluidic device that prevents channel clogging, introduction of bubbles, and crowding of animals in the chambers, and (iii) a custom-built worm-loading apparatus interfaced with the microfluidic device that allows easy manipulation of the worm suspension and prevents fluid leakage into the surrounding environment. Collectively, these technical advances enabled the development of new microfluidics-integrated hardware for spaceflight studies in C. elegans. Finally, we report Earth-based validation studies to test this new hardware, which has led to it being flown to the International Space Station.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-022-00241-4 |
| spellingShingle | Purushottam Soni Taslim Anupom Leila Lesanpezeshki Mizanur Rahman Jennifer E. Hewitt Matthew Vellone Louis Stodieck Jerzy Blawzdziewicz Nathaniel J. Szewczyk Siva A. Vanapalli Microfluidics-integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space Station npj Microgravity |
| title | Microfluidics-integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space Station |
| title_full | Microfluidics-integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space Station |
| title_fullStr | Microfluidics-integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space Station |
| title_full_unstemmed | Microfluidics-integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space Station |
| title_short | Microfluidics-integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of Caenorhabditis elegans on the International Space Station |
| title_sort | microfluidics integrated spaceflight hardware for measuring muscle strength of caenorhabditis elegans on the international space station |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-022-00241-4 |
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