<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The effects of microgravity on biological tissues are relatively unexplored, especially in regard to the mammalian female reproductive system. To begin to address this issue, the uterine tissue of female mice flown on NASA shuttle mission STS-118 was studied. Three sets of female mice, each consisting of 12 animals, were utilized in this study: flight animals, ground control animals, and baseline animals. The flight animals were housed in the Animal Enclosure Module (AEM) of the Commercial Biomedical Testing Module-2 (CBMT-2), which was a part of the payload of the shuttle’s mid-deck locker. Ground control animals were housed in ground-based AEMs, which were kept in a room specifically designed to mimic the environmental conditions of the flight units with regard to temperature, humidity, and light/dark cycles on a 48 hour delay. Baseline animals were housed in standard rodent cages at ambient temperature and humidity and a 12/12 light/dark cycle. The uterine tissue was stained using an Alcian Blue Periodic Acid Schiff staining procedure and the apical mucin layer thickness was subsequently analyzed. Analysis of the mucin layer in the uterus revealed that the thickness of the mucin layer in the flight tissue was significantly thicker that the mucin layers of the ground control and baseline tissue.</p>
</abstract>

The effects of microgravity on biological tissues are relatively unexplored, especially in regard to the mammalian female reproductive system. To begin to address this issue, the uterine tissue of female mice flown on NASA shuttle mission STS-118 was studied. Three sets of female mice, each consisting of 12 animals, were utilized in this study: flight animals, ground control animals, and baseline animals. The flight animals were housed in the Animal Enclosure Module (AEM) of the Commercial Biomedical Testing Module-2 (CBMT-2), which was a part of the payload of the shuttle’s mid-deck locker. Ground control animals were housed in ground-based AEMs, which were kept in a room specifically designed to mimic the environmental conditions of the flight units with regard to temperature, humidity, and light/dark cycles on a 48 hour delay. Baseline animals were housed in standard rodent cages at ambient temperature and humidity and a 12/12 light/dark cycle. The uterine tissue was stained using an Alcian Blue Periodic Acid Schiff staining procedure and the apical mucin layer thickness was subsequently analyzed. Analysis of the mucin layer in the uterus revealed that the thickness of the mucin layer in the flight tissue was significantly thicker that the mucin layers of the ground control and baseline tissue.

The Effects of Spaceflight on Mucin Production in the Mouse Uterus

Gravitational and Space Research

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The Effects of Spaceflight on Mucin Production in the Mouse Uterus"}

The effects of microgravity on biological tissues are relatively unexplored, especially in regard to the mammalian female reproductive system. To begin to...

The Effects of Spaceflight on Mucin Production in the Mouse Uterus

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Jul 01, 2013

Page range: 20 - 28

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/gsr-2013-0002

© 2013 Allan D. Forsman et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.