NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,193 27 March 2026 (Space Life Science Research Results)

The abstract in PubMed or at the publisher’s site is linked when available and will open in a new window.

Papers deriving from NASA support:

1. Dutta S, Tulodziecki D, Schwertz H, Kadomtsev A, Parik A, Chen Y-C, D’Agostino DP, Dagar M, Tabetah M, Rubins K, Alexander D, Porterfield DM.Gravity and human respiration: Biophysical limitations in mass transport and exchange in spaceflight environments.npj Biological Physics and Mechanics. 2026 Feb 2;3(1):3.Note: From the abstract: “A major requirement for humans is a breathable atmosphere for adequate respiratory CO2/O2 gas exchange. In microgravity, despite environmental life support systems regulating air exchange, astronauts complain about air quality, with elevated CO2-levels resulting in detrimental health and performance effects. Using high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics, we create a model of human respiratory ventilation to show how gravity biophysically shapes and drives respiratory exchange on Earth and in microgravity.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: Not available for this journal
   
   Funding: K. Rubins and D. Alexander are affiliated with NASA Johnson Space Center.
2. Friedman MA, Zhang Y, Neece N, Ryan C, Brunkhorst C, Donahue HJ.Connexin 43 modulates β-catenin-dependent transcription and secretory responses to oscillatory fluid flow in osteocytes.J Orthop Res. 2026 Mar 23;44(3):e70165.PI: M.A. FriedmanNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 2.3
   
   Funding: “This work was supported by the Translational Research Institute forSpace Health Postdoctoral Fellowship (NASA Cooperative Agreement NNX16AO69A), NSF REU, and NIH grants 3UM1TR004360-02S2 andR01AG01308.”
3. Tumeo A, Miliotis G, O’Connor A, Vijayakumar V, Sengupta P, McDonagh F, Kovarova A, Clarke C, Hooban B, Kumar Singh N, Rosado AS, Raman K, Venkateswaran K.Plasmidome, resistome, and virulence-associated gene characterization of Acinetobacter johnsonii in NASA cleanrooms and a clinical setting.Microbiol Spectr. 2026 Mar 23;e0250325. Online ahead of print.PI: K. VenkateswaranNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.8
   
   Funding: “… Part of the research described in this publication was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration. This research was funded by a 2012 Space Biology NNH12ZTT001N grant no. 19-12829-26 under Task Order NNN13D111T awardto K.V. …”
4. Britten RA, Tamgue EN, Arriaga PA, Li N, Phuyal S.Exposure to low (10 cGy) doses of simulated space radiation impairs reward-guided decision making in both male and female rats.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Mar 22. Online ahead of print.PI: R.A. BrittenJournal Impact Factor: 2.8
   
   Funding: “This work was supported by the NASA grant NNX14AE73G.”
5. Yaram SDR, Bostic A, Srivastava SK.Dielectric double shell characterization of yeast cells exposed to simulated microgravity.npj Microgravity. 2026 Mar 20. Early access article.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 5.1
   
   Funding: “This project was partially funded by NASA-EPSCoR WV Seed Funding.”
6. Bosutti A, Ganse B, Mulder E, Gruber M, Venegas-Carro M, Zange J, Rittweger J, Eggelbusch M, Wüst RCI, Hendrickse P, Degens H.Muscle weakness and the irisin-BDNF and oxidative stress axis in the 60-Day pseudorandomised controlled AGBRESA bedrest study.J Cachexia Sarcopenia Muscle. 2026 Mar 24;17(2):e70250.Journal Impact Factor: 9.1
   
   Funding: “… The authorsacknowledge the support of the European Space Agency (ESA, grantnumber 16-16ESA AGBR- 0013, contract number 4000113871/15/NL/PG) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA,grant number 80JSC018P0078). …”
7. Rivera J, Liveretou C, Fernandez-Pello C, Gollner MJ, Stocker D, Ferkul P, Olson S.Opposed flame spread limit over PMMA rods in normal and micro gravity.Fire Safety Journal. 2026 Mar 18;104719.PI: C. Fernandez-PelloJournal Impact Factor: 3.3
   
   Funding: “This work presented was supported by NASA Grants 80NSSC17M0065 and 80NSSC22K0582.”

Other papers of interest:

1. Dickerson BL, Sowinski RJ, Gonzalez DE.Neuromuscular electrical stimulation to combat muscle atrophy during spaceflight: A narrative review of mechanisms and potential applications.Life. 2026 Feb 2;16(2):258. Review.Note: This article is part of Special Issue “Musculoskeletal Function and Exercise Physiology: Integrative Approaches and Emerging Insights” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/life/special_issues/6FCCU03435) and may be obtained online without charge.
2. Kholwadwala A, Kadipasaoglu CM, Lee AG.Updates on spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome: Intracranial changes.Neurologic Clinics. 2026 Feb 20. Online ahead of print.
3. Lung C-F, Lin K-I, Hsu Y-C.Astrorepomics: A curated transcriptomic database for reproductive biology in space.iScience. 2026 Feb 17;29(4):115309.Note: From the abstract: “Spaceflight imposes substantial physiological stress on reproductive systems, yet relevant transcriptomic data remain fragmented across repositories. To address this need, we developed ASTROREPOMICS, a web-based platform that integrates 17 rigorously normalized and batch-corrected transcriptomic datasets spanning multiple species and reproductive tissues. The platform supports reproducible cross-study and cross-species analyses through standardized metadata and an intuitive user interface.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
4. Phadke R, Salman S, Bansal A, Kumar R, Paladugu P, Ong J, Waisberg E, Lee AG.Musculoskeletal degeneration in space: Translational parallels with spaceflight-associated ocular pathology and surgical implications.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Mar 20. Online ahead of print.Note: This is an Opinion/Position paper.
5. LeDrew E, Carvajal-Agudelo J, Franz-Odendaal T.Disrupted osteogenic gene expression of osteoblasts in vivo under simulated microgravity: Vibration exposure as a potential countermeasure.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Mar 22. Online ahead of print.Note: A random positioning machine was used in this study to simulate microgravity. This article may be obtained online without charge.
6. Park H, Park Y, Kim SS, Park SB, Jo JH, Im J, Seo WR, Bae MA, Kim KY, Koh B, Jeon H, Kim KS.Effects of clinostat-based microgravity simulation on the growth and differentiation of cerebral organoids using a 3D-clinostat.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Mar 24. Online ahead of print.
7. Xiang K, Wu J, Zhai J, Luo T, Wu F, Yao Y.The mechanism and protection of microgravity induced cardiac remodeling.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Mar 14. Review. Online ahead of print.
8. Yang A, Peng B, Teng F, Chen Y, Zhang S, Yang F, Xia Y, Geng B.Simulated microgravity induces a time-dependent shift from autophagy to apoptosis in osteoblasts, validated by TSPO, ATG12, and BNIP3L expression in vivo.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Mar 20. Online ahead of print.Note: From the abstract: “Emerging evidence indicates that microgravity-induced osteoblast dysfunction is a critical contributor to spaceflight-associated bone loss. This study investigated the temporal dynamics of autophagy-apoptosis crosstalk in MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts under a rotary cell culture system (RCCS)-simulated microgravity.”
9. Yu M, Wang X, Gu X, Luan J, Huang J, Sun W, Yuan X, Cao S, Pan J, Mao T, Han J, Li Y, Gao Y, Li J.Curcumin attenuates hindlimb unloading-induced bone loss by suppressing NF-κB-mediated osteoclast activation.Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2026 May 14;813:153598.
10. Padilla AE, Jones M, Joddar B.Radiation-induced neurotoxicity: Investigating human neuronal damage in MEA-integrated microfluidic platforms.RSC Adv. 2026 Mar 17;16(17):15477-88.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
11. Gaiser L, Beblo-Vranesevic K, Van Houdt R, Fahrion J, Gillet de Chalonge L, Bunchek JM, Zabel P, Schubert D, Rettberg P.The EDEN ISS mobile test facility microbiome changes by cleaning and continued use.Front Microbiomes. 2025;4:1608732.Note: From the abstract: “Bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) utilizing plants and/or microorganisms to provide the crew of a spacecraft with food, clean water, breathable air, and other amenities are likely to form key components of future long-distance spaceflight missions. Extensive testing and validation of such technologies are necessary before they can be implemented. EDEN ISS was a platform in Antarctica that tested various plant cultivation technologies for a BLSS. To ensure the continued operation of a BLSS, it is vital that plants remain healthy, which necessitates the monitoring of the plant production facility microbiome to ensure that pathogens are detected early and countermeasures can be engaged.” This article may be obtained online without charge.

Astrobiology, space biology, space medicine, microgravity, ISS, Space life science,