The Frog in Space (FRIS) experiment onboard Space Station Mir: final report and follow-on studies

Cerebellar morphology and behavioural correlations of the vestibular function alterations in weightlessness

In humans and other vertebrates, the range of disturbances and behavioural changes induced by spaceflight conditions are well known. Sensory organs and the central nervous system (CNS) are forced to adapt to new environmental conditions of weightlessness. In comparison with peripheral vestibular organs and behavioural disturbances in weightlessness conditions, the CNS vestibular centres of vertebrates, including the cerebellum, have been poorly examined in orbital experiments, as well as in experimental micro- and hypergravity. However, the cerebellum serves as a critical control centre for learning and sensory system integration during space-flight. Thus, it is referred to as a principal brain structure for adaptation to gravity and the entire sensorimotor adaptation and learning during weightlessness. This paper is focused on the prolonged spaceflight effects on the vestibular cerebellum evidenced from animal models used in the Bion-M1 project. The changes in the peripheral vestibular apparatus and brainstem primary vestibular centres with appropriate behavioural disorders after altered gravity exposure are briefly reviewed. The cerebellum studies in space missions and altered gravity are discussed.

Challenges to the central nervous system during human spaceflight missions to Mars

Space travel presents a number of environmental challenges to the central nervous system, including changes in gravitational acceleration that alter the terrestrial synergies between perception and action, galactic cosmic radiation that can damage sensitive neurons and structures, and multiple factors (isolation, confinement, altered atmosphere, and mission parameters, including distance from Earth) that can affect cognition and behavior. Travelers to Mars will be exposed to these environmental challenges for up to 3 years, and space-faring nations continue to direct vigorous research investments to help elucidate and mitigate the consequences of these long-duration exposures. This article reviews the findings of more than 50 years of space-related neuroscience research on humans and animals exposed to spaceflight or analogs of spaceflight environments, and projects the implications and the forward work necessary to ensure successful Mars missions. It also reviews fundamental neurophysiology responses that will help us understand and maintain human health and performance on Earth.

Reptiles in Space Missions: Results and Perspectives

Reptiles are a rare model object for space research. However, some reptile species demonstrate effective adaptation to spaceflight conditions. The main scope of this review is a comparative analysis of reptile experimental exposure in weightlessness, demonstrating the advantages and shortcomings of this model. The description of the known reptile experiments using turtles and geckos in the space and parabolic flight experiments is provided. Behavior, skeletal bones (morphology, histology, and X-ray microtomography), internal organs, and the nervous system (morphology, histology, and immunohistochemistry) are studied in the spaceflight experiments to date, while molecular and physiological results are restricted. Therefore, the results are discussed in the scope of molecular data collected from mammalian (mainly rodents) specimens and cell cultures in the parabolic and orbital flights and simulated microgravity. The published data are compared with the results of the gecko model studies after the 12–44.5-day spaceflights with special reference to the unique peculiarities of the gecko model for the orbital experiments. The complex study of thick-toed geckos after three spaceflights, in which all geckos survived and demonstrated effective adaptation to spaceflight conditions, was performed. However, future investigations are needed to study molecular mechanisms of gecko adaptation in space.

A perspective on the importance of reproductive mode in astrobiology

Reproduction is a vital characteristic of life, and sex is the most common reproductive mode in the eukaryotic world. Sex and reproduction are not necessarily linked mechanisms: Sexuality without reproduction exists, while several forms of asexual reproduction are known. The occurrence of sexuality itself is paradoxical, as it is very costly in evolutionary terms. Most of the hypotheses (more than 20) attempting to explain the prevalence of sex fall into two categories: Sex either creates good gene combinations for adaptation to environments or eliminates bad gene combinations counteracting the accumulation of mutations. In spite of this apparent wealth of beneficial effects of sex, asexuality is not rare. Most eukaryotic, asexual lineages are short-lived and can only persist through the presence of sexual roots, but at least two animal groups, bdelloid rotifers and darwinulid ostracods, seem to claim the status of ancient asexuals. Research on (a)sexuality is relevant to astrobiology in a number of ways. First, strong relationships between the origin and persistence of life in extreme environments and reproductive mode are known. Second, the "habitability" of nonterrestrial environments to life greatly depends on reproductive mode. Whereas asexuals can do equally well or better in harsh environments, they fail to adapt fast enough to changing abiotic and biotic environments. Third, it has been shown that plants reproduce mainly asexually in space, and sperm production and motility in some vertebrates are hampered. Both findings indicate that extraterrestrial life under conditions different from Earth might be dominated by asexual reproduction. Finally, for exchange of biological material between planets, the choice of reproductive mode will be important.

Developmental Biology of Urodele Amphibians in Microgravity Conditions

Among the urodele amphibians, only Cynops pyrrhogaster and Pleurodeles waltl, two species of the Salamandridae family, were used in space experiments. The advantages for using urodeles reside (i) in reproduction: a few months after natural breeding, females can lay eggs in absence of males after a hormonal treatment, because spermatozoa were preserved in the cloacal pelvic glands of matted females, (ii) in the rate of development which is slower in Cynops and Pleurodeles than in the anuran Xenopus, (iii) in their physiological properties: they can live in a closed water container or in a moisturized environment, and they can fast during several days. Moreover, urodeles have an important phylogenetic interest. Many biological phenomena differ from those of anurans, such as fertilization events, the germ cell origin and the migration toward the differentiating gonads, and their regeneration capabilities. The main goals of the space experiments were to answer the following questions. On the one hand, does fertilization occur normally in microgravity? Is subsequent embryonic development normal in microgravity? Is further development and reproduction normal after return to Earth? On the other hand, does microgravity affect the organs in adult animals? Does microgravity affect the regeneration of organs? Fertilization in space is clearly demonstrated. However, subsequent embryonic development appears to be altered in microgravity. In Pleurodeles, abnormalities such as cortical cytoplasmic movements, decrease of cell adhesion, and loss of cells were observed. Although, early development was not strictly normal as a consequence of embryological regulation phenomena, young hatching larvae had normal morphological phenotypes and swimming behavior. After landing, no differences were observed between born-in-space animals to standard ones during the embryonic development to adulthood. The analyses of their offspring demonstrated that the percentages of fertilization and development were in accordance with the control animals. No genetic abnormalities were detected during the analysis of the offspring. The development of their progenies were also without characteristic differences compared to control Pleurodeles. Microgravity seems to have effects on the morphological and histological structures of organs of flight adults. However, as was the case in several experiments the number of analyzed adults was low, and it is too early to conclude on specific effects of microgravity. Moreover, in certain flights the temperature was not regulated, and an increase in temperature occurred. Conditions of these space flights had certainly influenced the samples, and consequently the interpretations of results. Space flights have clear effects on organs in regeneration. But more specifically, they have long term effects that last several weeks after the return of the animals to Earth. A similar result was also obtained for otoconia several months after landing. So far, however, no clear hypothesis could be proposed to interpret these observations.

Studying the visceral physiology of tadpoles through their naturally transparent abdominal walls

We propose using anuran tadpoles with naturally transparent abdominal skin to study the visceral physiology of amphibian larvae under microgravity. The transparency of the abdominal wall in certain tadpoles enables one to evaluate the basal physiological state and temporal changes in viscera from their movements without any invasive treatment. In order to validate our experimental design, the intestinal motility and heart rate of Rhacophorus tadpoles were examined as indices of physiological responses to stepwise changes in temperature.

[Perspective on gravitational biology of amphibians]

We review here the scientific significance of the use of amphibians for research in gravitational biology. Since amphibian eggs are quite large, yet develop rapidly and externally, it is easy to observe their development. Consequently amphibians were the first vertebrates to have their early developmental processes investigated in space. Though several deviations from normal embryonic development occur when amphibians are raised in microgravity, their developmental program is robust enough to return the organisms to an ostensibly normal morphology by the time they hatch. Evolutionally, amphibians were the first vertebrate animal to come out of the water and onto land. Subsequently they diversified and have adaptively radiated to various habitats. They now inhabit aquatic, terrestrial, arboreal and fossorial niches. This diversity can be used to help study the biological effects of gravity at the organismal level, where macroscopic phenomena are associated with gravitational loading. By choosing different amphibian models and using a comparative approach one can effectively identify the action of gravity on biological systems, and the adaptation that vertebrates have made to this loading. Advances in cellular and molecular biology provide powerful tools for the study in many fields, including gravitational biology, and amphibians have proven to be good models for studies at those levels as well. The low metabolic rates of amphibians make them convenient organisms to work with (compared to birds and mammals) in the difficult and confined spaces on orbiting research platforms. We include here a review of what is known about and the potential for further behavioral and physiological researches in space using amphibians.

[An easy introduction to organismal and cellular mechanisms for graviperception]

In this review paper, organismal and also cellular mechanisms for perception of gravity are explained. A statolith and a number of hair cells which surround the statolith is a basic structure of statocysts for detecting the direction of gravity or tilting of the body in various animals. The vestibular system of vertebrate was explained, especially on the process from the body-tilting to impulse frequencies which travel to brain. For the cellular responses to gravity, contribution of various organella (??) and cytoskeleton are introduced. Such cellular responses may change when the gravity values become less or null. Gravity perception mechanisms of plants are also explained.

Anuran metamorphosis: a model for gravitational study on motor development

Limbs and supporting structures of an organism experience a full weight of its own when it lands from water, because neutral buoyancy in the aquatic habitat will be no longer available in the terrestrial world. Metamorphosis of anuran amphibians presents a good research model to examine how this transition from non-loading to weight-loading affects development of motor capacity at the time of their first emergence on land. Our video analysis of the transitional anurans, Rana catesbeiana, at Gosner stage 46 (the stage of complete transformation) demonstrated that the take-off speed increased 1.23-fold after the first six hours of weight-loading on the wet ground. It did not increase further during the following three days of loading, and was close to the level of mature frogs with different body mass. During development of larvae in deep water with no chance of landing through metamorphosis, both tension and power of a hindlimb anti-gravity muscle increased 5-fold between stages 37 and 46. However, the muscle contractility increased more rapidly when the larvae could access the wet ground by their natural landing behavior after stages 41-42. Muscle power, one of major factors affecting locomotory speed, was 1.29-fold greater in the loaded than in the non-loaded larvae at the transitional stage. Thus, weight-loading had a potentially significant effect on the elevation of motor capacity, with a similar extent of increment in locomotory speed and muscle power during the last stages of metamorphosis. Such a motor adjustment of the froglets in a relatively short transitional period would be important for effective ecological interactions and survival in their inexperienced terrestrial life.

The mechanics of air-breathing in anuran larvae: implications to the development of amphibians in microgravity

Because of their rapid development, amphibians have been important model organisms in studies of how microgravity affects vertebrate growth and differentiation. Both urodele (salamanders) and anuran (frogs and toads) embryos have been raised in orbital flight, the latter several times. The most commonly reported and striking effects of microgravity on tadpoles are not in the vestibular system, as one might suppose, but in their lungs and tails. Pathological changes in these organs disrupt behavior and retard larval growth. What causes malformed (typically lordotic) tadpoles in microgravity is not known, nor have axial pathologies been reported in every flight experiment. Lung pathology, however, has been consistently observed and is understood to result from the failure of the animals to inflate their lungs in a timely and adequate fashion. We suggest that malformities in the axial skeleton of tadpoles raised in microgravity are secondary to problems in respiratory function. We have used high speed videography to investigate how tadpoles breathe air in the 1G environment. The video images reveal alternative species-specific mechanisms, that allow tadpoles to separate air from water in less that 150 ms. We observed nothing in the biomechanics of air-breathing in 1G that would preclude these same mechanisms from working in microgravity. Thus our kinematic results suggest that the failure of tadpoles to inflate their lungs properly in microgravity is due to the tadpoles' inability to locate the air-water interface and not a problem with the inhalation mechanism per se.

Allometry in vestibular responses of anurans

Frogs and toads turn either their heads or bodies opposite to angular accelerations applied around the yaw axis. Thresholds exist for the minimum angular acceleration that induces this vestibulomotor response in individual frogs. These thresholds were recorded for several anuran species that cover a broad range of sizes and life styles. Interspecific variation in the magnitude of the thresholds, which correlated with the ecology and behavior of the species, was documented. Also an allometric relationship was observed between this threshold and body size; the larger the frog, the lower the threshold. In many species, the threshold value for reflexive vestibulomotor responses to angular acceleration was proportional to the -0.4 (+/-0.2) power of body mass. Physical dimensions of the semicircular canals determine, in part, vestibular sensitivity to angular acceleration. Hence changes with growth in the semicircular canals are believed to contribute to the slope of -0.4. The biological significance of this allometry in vestibular responses is discussed and compared to trends in vestibular sensitivity and semicircular canal morphology of other vertebrate classes.