Mission SpaceX CRS-19 RRRM-1 space flight induced skin genomic plasticity via an epigenetic trigger
Kanhaiya Singh et al.
Highlights
Exposure to space environment causes genome-wide adaptive epigenetic changes
Space-exposure adaptive genome-wide changes are only seen in select “responder” mice
In space, genome-wide epigenetic changes mark induction of genomic plasticity
Genome-wide hypomethylation in space-exposed mice cause adaptive gene expression
Summary
Genomic plasticity helps adapt to extreme environmental conditions. We tested the hypothesis that exposure to space environment (ESE) impacts the epigenome inducing genomic plasticity. Murine skin samples from the Rodent Research Reference Mission-1 were procured from the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory. Targeted RNA sequencing to test differential gene expression between the skin of ESE versus ground controls revealed upregulation of VEGF-mediated angiogenesis pathways secondary to promoter hypomethylation in responders. Methylome sequencing identified ESE-sensitive hypomethylated genes including developmental angiogenic genesAraf,Vegfb, andVegfr1. Based on differentially expressed genes, the angiogenesis biofunction was enriched in responders. The induction of genomic plasticity in response to ESE, as reported herein, may be viewed as a mark of biological resilience that is evident in a minority of organisms, responders but not in non-responders, exposed to the same stressor. Inducible genomic plasticity may be implicated in natural resilience to ESE.
