Integral Understanding of Life-regulation Mechanism from "SPACE"

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: "LIVING IN SPACE" - Integral Understanding of life-regulation mechanism from "SPACE"
• Project/Area Number: 15K21745
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Complex systems
• Research Institution: Japan Aerospace EXploration Agency
• Principal Investigator: Furukawa Satoshi 国立研究開発法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, 有人宇宙技術部門, 上席研究開発員 (20726260)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-11-06 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 宇宙 / 微小重力 / ストレス / 放射線 / 微生物

Outline of Final Research Achievements

During a long-term stay in space, physical stress of zero gravity causes muscle atrophy and bone loss, psychological stress by an enclosed environment brings about biological rhythm dysfunction, environmental risks like space radiation exposure induce DNA mutation. These issues need to be resolved in an era of challenging an ultra-long-term stay in space with human exploration to Mars. At the same time, deep understanding of the issues will help contribute to maintaining homeostasis of life in our super-aged, stressful society on Earth, leading to healthy aging and longevity.
Our team of experts attempted to integrally understand the plasticity and failure of life forms on Earth. In the 5-year research period, total of 37 researchers were sent abroad, and total of 64 foreign researchers were invited to Japan. More than 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers were published.

Free Research Field

宇宙医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

重力影響による骨・筋・前庭・循環系・免疫機能の恒常性維持と破綻を、宇宙・地上実験にて、細胞、組織から器官、それらのネットワーク、個体レベルで、重力感受と適応応答機構ならびにその分子基盤を特定した。また、ストレスと関連が深い睡眠・覚醒の領域において新たな睡眠診断デバイス(簡易であり、地上の生活にも大いに役立つ)、不眠症治療薬の評価分析、眠気の分子的実体を捉えるなど世界トップレベルでの研究を展開・達成した。さらに、無重力と閉鎖環境の複合影響を研究するため、新規装置開発、メタゲノム解析、蛍光プローブやバイオイメージングなど新たなモニタリングシステムの開発も行った。