3D Self-Assembled Human Brain Model to Fly to the Space Station to Test Precision Medicines for Neurological Disorders

WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY (VA), July 25, 2023 – Nearly one in six people around the world—which amounts to approximately one billion people—are affected by neurological disorders ranging from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease to epilepsy and migraines. Researchers from biotechnology startup Axonis are working to help improve treatments for patients with such disorders by leveraging the International Space Station (ISSInternational Space Station) National Laboratory. The research team will examine how 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. affects the maturation of human brain cells that form three dimensional spheroids that mimic certain aspects of the human brain. Findings will help advance disease modeling and could lead to the development of new therapies to treat neurological disorders in patients on Earth.  

Axonis was awarded a grant for this project through the Technology in Space PrizeA prize that provides grant funding for business startups participating in the MassChallenge startup accelerator program to conduct innovative research and technology development utilizing the ISS National Lab. The prize is funded by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, which manages the ISS National Lab, and Boeing., funded by Boeing and the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Inc., manager of the ISS National Laboratory, in partnership with the MassChallenge startup accelerator program. 

In the investigation, which is launching on Northrop Grumman’s 19th Commercial Resupply Services mission(Abbreviation: CRS mission) A CRS mission is a cargo resupply mission contracted by NASA to deliver supplies and research to the International Space Station on commercial spacecraft as part of the CRS contract with three commercial companies. As part of CRS missions, experiments currently return to Earth on SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that splash down in the ocean., the research team will convert induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into different types of brain cells—neurons, microglia, and astrocytes—on Earth. The team will then then send cultures of these cells to the orbiting laboratory, where the various cell types should assemble into three-dimensional spheroids. These spheroids act as models for the brain that can be used for disease modeling and drug testing. 

According to Shane Hegarty, Axonis chief scientific officer, these 3D self-assemblies are a game-changing approach to studying the human brain. “They’re assembling together to form this kind of spheroid rather than starting as one cell growing, growing, growing until you get an organoid, which is a little bit different and can’t get very mature,” he said.  

Hegarty explained that the trouble with organoids is that the cells can only mature so much, and oftentimes, part of them dies more quickly than the rest, which leaves researchers with an incomplete model. Brain organoids also take a long time to grow, and this experiment seeks to streamline that process. “Organoids take many months to create on Earth, and you might never get the maturity that you could potentially get with the 3D self-assembly approach,” Hegarty said.  

The self-assembled spheroids are also valuable because they can be made from a patient’s own skin cells. Skin cells from a patient can be reprogrammed into iPSCs that are then converted into brain cells that self-assemble into spheroids. Because the spheroids are made from a patient’s own cells, they can serve as individualized models that allow researchers to tailor treatment options to the particular patient’s needs. 

Results from this investigation could not only improve therapeutics for neurological disorders but also help speed up the drug approval process, Hegarty said. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided that human data is preferable to animal data, so in the future, we could see more and more approvals based on nonanimal disease modeling,” he said. “This experiment could help with that, as it uses engineered human tissue as opposed to rodent models.” 

In addition to evaluating how well self-assembled spheroids form in space, the investigation will also test the ability of a therapeutic to reach cells within the assembly. The team is using a special gene therapy that consists of a fluorescent protein that glows green when it reaches cells. The therapy is designed to target only neurons, so when the payload returns to Earth, Hegarty and the team will evaluate how well the therapeutic reached neurons and no other cell type.   

The mission is targeted for launch from Wallops Flight Facility no earlier than August 1 at 8:30 p.m. EDT. This mission will include more than 20 ISS National Lab-sponsored payloads. To learn more about all ISS National Lab-sponsored research on this mission, please visit our launch page. 

Download a high-resolution photo for this release: 3DI Neuronal Cells Cultured in Microgravity

Media Contact:       
Patrick O’Neill
904-806-0035
PONeill@ISSNationalLab.org

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About the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory:   The International Space Station (ISS) is a one-of-a-kind laboratory that enables research and technology development not possible on Earth. As a public service enterprise, the ISS National Lab allows researchers to leverage this multiuser facility to improve life on Earth, mature space-based business models, advance science literacy in the future workforce, and expand a sustainable and scalable market in low Earth orbit(Abbreviation: LEO) The orbit around the Earth that extends up to an altitude of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from Earth’s surface. The International Space Station’s orbit is in LEO, at an altitude of approximately 250 miles.. Through this orbiting national laboratory, research resources on the space station are available to support non-NASA science, technology and education initiatives from U.S. government agencies, academic institutions, and the private sector. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS(Abbreviation: CASIS™) The nonprofit organization that manages the ISS National Lab, which receives at least 50 percent of the U.S. research allocation on the International Space Station to facilitate research that benefits humanity (NASA manages the other 50% and focuses on research for space exploration purposes).), Inc. manages the ISS National Lab, under Cooperative AgreementA cooperative agreement is Federal assistance that establishes a relationship between the U.S. Government and a recipient in which the principal purpose of the relationship is to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation.  Since 2011, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space™ (CASIS™) has managed the National Laboratory® through a Cooperative Agreement with NASA. with NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration, facilitating access to its permanent microgravity research environment, a powerful vantage point in low Earth orbit, and the extreme and varied conditions of space. To learn more about the ISS National Lab, visit website.   

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