Case Study
Improving Treatment for Osteoporosis
ISSInternational Space Station Testing Demonstrates Robustness of Potential New Drug to Treat Bone Loss
ISS NATIONAL LAB OPPORTUNITY
MicrogravityThe condition of perceived weightlessness created when an object is in free fall, for example when an object is in orbital motion. Microgravity alters many observable phenomena within the physical and life sciences, allowing scientists to study things in ways not possible on Earth. The International Space Station provides access to a persistent microgravity environment. induces accelerated bone loss, making the ISS ideal for studying potential new osteoporosis therapeutics.
Most osteoporosis drugs work to slow bone breakdown, not form new bone. However, researchers at UCLA developed a new therapy, based on a naturally produced protein called NELL-1, that does both. The team modified the NELL-1 protein so the drug could be given as a quick injection under the skin to treat bones throughout the body. The team needed to test the new therapy, and the ISS National Lab enabled accelerated testing through rodent research in space. In ground-based labs, researchers induce bone loss in rodents through means such as ovary removal, hormonal drugs, or immobilization. But microgravity induces bone loss much more rapidly than any of those methods, providing an accelerated model to test new therapeutics.
Industries:
Pharmaceutical, Medical, Orthopedics
Strategic Focus Area:
Fundamental Science
Research Area:
Bone Disease
Institution:
University of California,
Los Angeles
IMPACTFUL OUTCOME
Published results demonstrated the team’s new therapeutic successfully reduced bone loss and increased bone mass in rodents without causing significant side effects.
Data from the hind limbs and vertebrae of rodents returned live from the ISS showed significant bone loss from microgravity and a remarkable recovery after treatment with the NELL-1-based therapy. These findings indicate the drug’s potential to treat extreme bone loss in patients on Earth. Results were published in the journal npj Microgravity, and the research team filed a patent for the new therapeutic.
INVESTIGATOR
Chia Soo
Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, UCLA
The RR-5 UCLA team: Benjamin Wu, Chia Soo, Kang Ting, and Jin Hee Kwak
Testing in microgravity is a huge deal because it induces an extreme state of bone loss. If NELL-1 was found to be successful in a microgravity model, then it may work for the most extreme cases of bone loss on Earth, and that would prove the rigorousness of our therapy.
– Jin Hee Kwak, UCLA, project co-investigator
APPLICATION
The new NELL-1-based therapeutic could significantly improve treatment for the millions of people on Earth with osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a progressive disease that decreases bone density, making bones fragile. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, the disease affects one in three women and one in five men over age 50 worldwide. Osteoporotic fractures greatly reduce quality of life and increase patient risk for additional fractures. The NELL-1-based therapy developed by the UCLA team helps prevent further bone loss and builds new bone to replace what was lost. Such a drug would significantly benefit patients with severe osteoporosis, as most current drugs only slow bone loss.
Note: This content is abridged from an article originally published in Upward,
the official magazine of the ISS National Lab.
