ArticleNPJ microgravity2024
Simulated microgravity impairs human NK cell cytotoxic activity against space radiation-relevant leukemic cells.
Article in NPJ microgravity, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Astroimmunology: the effects of spaceflight and its associated stressors on the immune system.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026Review
- The role and mechanism of ARRB1 in simulated space radiation and microgravity-induced lung carcinogenesis.NPJ microgravity · 2025Article
- Immune System-Tumor Crosstalk Under Microgravity: Mechanistic Insights, Challenges, and Translational Perspectives.Cancers · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
- Update of
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells are an important first-line of defense against malignant cells. Because of the potential for increased cancer risk from astronaut exposure to space radiation, we determined whether microgravity present during spaceflight affects the body's defenses against leukemogenesis. Human NK cells were cultured for 48 h under normal gravity and simulated microgravity (sμG), and cytotoxicity against K-562 (CML) and MOLT-4 (T-ALL) cells was measured using standard methodology or under continuous sμG. This brief exposure to sμG markedly reduced NK cytotoxicity against both leukemias, and these deleterious effects were more pronounced in continuous sμG. RNA-seq performed on NK cells from two additional healthy donors provided insight into the mechanism(s) by which sμG reduced cytotoxicity. Given our prior report of space radiation-induced human T-ALL in vivo, the reduced cytotoxicity against MOLT-4 is striking and raises the possibility that μG may increase astronaut risk of leukemogenesis during prolonged missions beyond LEO.
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Registered trials
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