Investigation of the impact of altered gravity-induced calcium signaling on biological systems, including neuronal function and plant environmental adaptation, to provide insights into optimizing astronaut performance during long-term space missions. While changes in intracellular calcium levels have been observed in human and plant cells in response to changes in gravity, the details of these changes remain unclear. To address this, we run a comparative study of calcium signaling in neurons and plants. To facilitate this study, we have generated cell lines and transgenic plants expressing the genetically encoded calcium reporter CaMPARI2. This project will provide spatial resolution and complement existing and ongoing molecular and microscopic analyses. By understanding calcium signaling events in response to elevated gravity through centrifugation, we gain in-sights into how eukaryotic cells adapt to environmental changes and identify the impact that arises from altered neuronal signaling and suboptimal crop growth on long-term crewed space missions.

Ongoing project…