NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,185 30 January 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. Khodadad CLM, Dixit AR, Hummerick ME, Spencer LE, Spern CJ, Torres J, Monje O, Richards JT, Gooden J, Curry AB, Massa GD, DuFour N, Poulet L, Romeyn MW, Wheeler RM.Evaluating microbial community profiles of chile peppers grown on the International Space Station provides implications for fruiting crops.Sci Rep. 2026 Jan 23. Online ahead of print.Note: ISS results. This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.9
   
   Funding: “Funding was provided by NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences which funded the ground and development work. The International Space Station Program funded PH-04 flight study.”
2. Spern CJ, Hummerick ME, Khodadad CLM, Morales CJ, Dixit AR, Spencer LE, Mitchell C, Morrow B, Wheeler RM, Massa GD.The microbial communities of a tomato crop grown in Veggie under different lighting regimes on the International Space Station.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jan 26. Online ahead of print.Journal Impact Factor: 2.8
   
   Funding: “This research was co-funded by NASA’s Human Research Program and Space Biology Program as part of the ILSRA 2015 NRA submission ‘Pick-and-eat salad-crop productivity, nutritional value, and acceptability to supplement the ISS food system.'”
3. Hoeppner G, Bshennaty A, Vogl B, Saleh G, Alkhouli M, Hatoum H.Microgravity-induced alterations in left atrial hemodynamics and thrombogenic risk: Insights from healthy and atrial fibrillation models.Acta Astronaut. 2026 Jan 27. Online ahead of print.Note: From the abstract: “Patient-specific left atrial models were generated for three healthy individuals and three AF patients. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed using each patient’s baseline mitral outflow waveform and two modified waveforms representing short- and long-duration post-flight cardiac loading changes derived from echocardiographic observations. Hemodynamic metrics included left atrial velocity, time averaged wall shear stress, oscillatory shear index, relative residence time, and stasis volume, which were used to assess thrombogenic flow conditions.”
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.4
   
   Funding: “This research was partially funded by the American Heart Association award number #24CDA1269661, and the Institute of Computing and Cybersystems at Michigan Technological University. Ahmad Bshennaty was partially funded by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation award #2024110010, and Grace Hoeppner was partially funded by the Michigan Space Grant Consortium award #80NSSC20M0124 and by the Ken Larm scholarship.”
4. Olson A, Kumari S, Wei X, Chougule K, Lu Z, Tello-Ruiz MK, Kumar V, Van Buren P, Olson A, Kim C, Braynen J, Zhang L, Dyer S, Alvarez-Jarreta J, Saraf S, Contreras-Moreira B, Naamati G, Ernst C, Papatheodorou I, George N, Jaiswal P, Naithani S, Gupta P, Elser J, D’Eustachio P, Assmann SM, Ferrero-Serrano Á, Pasha A, Provart N, Gladman N, Ware D.Gramene 2025: Expanded comparative genomics and pathway resources, integrated search, and pan-genome portals for crop research.Nucleic Acids Research. 2025 Jan 6;54(D1):D1720-D32.PI: P. JaiswalNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 13.1
   
   Funding: “This work was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture grant USDA-ARS [8062-21000-051-000D to D.W., N.G.; 0201-88888-003-000D [SciNet]; 0201-88888- 002-000D (SciNet)]; National Science Foundation, USA [2122358 to D.W.; 2122357 to S.A., A.F.-S.; 2029854 to P.J.]; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA [80NSSC22K0891 to S.N.; 80NSSC22K0855 to P.J.]; Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) [HR0011-23-9-0054 to P.J., S.N.]; US National Institutes of Health [S10OD028632-01 (CSHL Cluster); NHRGI U24 HG012198]; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to N.J.P.; Wellcome Trust [grant numbers WT222155/Z/20/Z, 221401/Z/20/Z to C.E.]; European Molecular Biology Laboratory to C.E.; and Oregon State University.”
5. Zhang Z, Manikkan S, Krishnan M, Azimi M, Vaccino L, Wang J, Xue C, Dyke SJ, Bilionis I, Han S, Parsons P.Managing delay-induced challenges in remote monitoring of uncrewed space habitats: The impact of forecasting telemetry visualizations.Acta Astronaut. 2026 Apr;241:1-18.Note: From the abstract: “Future deep-space missions will require ground teams to monitor and manage uncrewed habitats under significant communication delays, forcing operators to anticipate system behavior and respond to anomalies without real-time feedback. This study investigates whether visual forecasting aids can support these cognitive demands. In a controlled experiment, 35 participants performed a simulated habitat monitoring task under one of three conditions: no delay and no forecast, delay without forecast, or delay with forecasting support.”
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.4
   
   Funding: “This work was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Grant No. 80NSSC19K1076.”
6. Sigdel S, Sawant H, Yu BX, Chen A, Albalawy R, Wang J.From cerebrovascular injury to vascular cognitive impairment and dementia: Therapeutic potential of stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles.Biomedicines. 2026 Jan 13;14(1). Review.Note: This article is part of Special Issue “Unraveling New Horizon in Vascular Diseases: From Pathophysiology to Novel Therapeutic” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biomedicines/special_issues/2IQQK9H0S3) and may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.9
   
   Funding: “This work was partially supported by the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium (80NSSC20M0055; S.S.), the American Heart Association (AHA) Career Development Award (935826; J.W.), and the AHA Transformational Project Award (24TPA1291189; J.W.). All authors thank Kaden Shaffer for proofreading the manuscript.”

Other papers of interest:

1. Hennessa TM, VanArsdale ES, Leary D, Yang J, Davis RR, Barrila J, Schultzhaus Z, Romsdahl J, Smith AD, Scholes AN, Hervey J, Compton JR, Katilie CJ, Nickerson CA, Wang Z.Microgravity-induced constraints on melanin bioproduction: Investigating E. coli metabolic responses aboard the International Space Station.npj Microgravity. 2026 Jan 22. Early access article.Note: ISS results. This article may be obtained online without charge.
2. Al-Zogbi L, Krieger A, Fleiter T, Unberath M, Martellucci J, Bergamini C, De Simone B, Pantalone D.Autonomous robotics and AI in trauma and emergency care for space medicine.In: De Simone B, Catena F, Gumbs AA, Kaafarani HMA, Kirkpatrick AW, eds. New Technologies, Precision Medicine, and AI in Emergency General Surgery: Revolutionizing Surgical Practice for Optimal Patient Care. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2026. p. 189-217.
3. Lemke B, Kollert MR, Lam T, Thiele T, Göbel N, Köhn LR, Korus G, Kloke L, Duda GN.Gravity-tolerant in-flight 3D bioprinting enabled by stereolithography for space tissue engineering.Adv Sci (Weinh). 2026 Jan 21:e20715. Online ahead of print.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
4. Loktionova Y, Kireev K, Zharkikh E, Lutsevich D, Yanusnin V, Sidorov V, Dunaev A.Analysis of the reaction of cosmonaut’s body microcirculatory-tissue systems to postural effects at tilt-table.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jan 28. Online ahead of print.
5. Mugnano M, Cerbone V, Villone MM, Montella A, Scalia G, Capasso M, Iolascon A, Miccio L, Ferraro P, Mari S, Ferranti F, Maffettone PL.Label-free blood cell separation for space health monitoring using a portable blast cell biochip.npj Microgravity. 2026 Jan 27. Early access article.Note: From the abstract: “We demonstrate a novel biomedical application of a commercial spiral microfluidic chip (Fluidic 382), originally developed for particle sorting, by repurposing it for label-free, size-based isolation of pathological blood cells, including leukemic blasts from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) samples.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
6. Resnik DB, Rahimzadeh V, Shelhamer M, Wolpe PR.Informed consent for research participation during space exploration: Ethical issues.Bioethics. 2026 Jan 28. Online ahead of print.
7. Sui X, Guo Y, Wu F, Wang H, Yang C, Zhang H, Jiang S, Dai Z.Physiological safety and multi-tissue metabolic adaptation under a novel intermittent prolonged fasting regimen.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jan 24. Online ahead of print.Note: From the abstract: “Prolonged fasting (PF)-induced hypometabolism shows significant potential for supporting human survival during long-term space missions and in extreme extraterrestrial environments. However, developing safe and effective PF protocols remains a critical challenge for practical application. In the present study, 6- to 7-week-old healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used to investigate PF and intermittent PF (IPF) regimens.”
8. Walck CD, Frantz Z, Brattain NJ, Bolger B.Sex-based differences in intraocular pressure during head-down tilt in a spaceflight analog model.Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2026 Feb;97(2):69-74.
9. Lambertini L, Santonicola MG, Laurenzi S.Flexible PVA/BA gel for passive radiation shielding in spacesuit applications beyond LEO.Acta Astronaut. 2026 Jan 28. Online ahead of print.
10. Baxter KJ, Sas E, Clark KB, Walsh M, Pradeep N, Batool A, Naney C, Vargas Cruz MA, Kennerdale N, Das K, Shi Z, Kelam A, Verma V, Simões MF, Neefs D, Ravichandran V, Tirumalai MR, Barcenilla BB, Macori G, Gonzalez E, Sikes B, Karouia F, Brereton NJB.Biofilms: From the cradle of life to life support.npj Biofilms Microbiomes. 2026 Jan 22;12(1):11. Review.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
11. Hou M, Cheng X, Yang S, Wu Q, Xiao S, Li H, Blumenfeld R.Gravity-dependent rate sensitivity in granular intrusion: Microgravity experiments and simulations.npj Microgravity. 2026 Jan 22. Early access article.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
12. Kumar R, Bouras A, Gill K, Sporn K, Phadke R, Kaur H, Paladugu P, Ong J, Waisberg E, Lee AG.A validated transcriptomic NMJ remodeling score reveals synaptic dysfunction independent of muscle atrophy after immobilization in a microgravity analog.Neuroinformatics. 2026 Jan 24;24(1):8.Note: GeneLab is available at https://genelab.nasa.gov.
13. Bekkers A, Zoutenbier V, Bussink P, Groen E, Kuijf H, Amelink A.Using near infrared light to detect hypoxia in retinal images.Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2026 Feb;97(2):111-5.
14. Britton JK, Green NDC, Harridge SDR, Peters AG, Thornton-White CG, Pollock RD.Physiological responses to four different baseline accelerations on a human centrifuge.Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2026 Feb;97(2):75-83.
15. Chen G, Lei X, Li S, Lodewijks G, Zhang R, Zou M.Bioinspired design for space robots: Enhancing exploration capability and intelligence.Biomimetics (Basel). 2026 Jan 2;11(1):30. Review.Note: This article is part of Special Issue “Bio-Inspired Robotics and Applications 2025” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/biomimetics/special_issues/X90WJRP245) and may be obtained online without charge.
16. Hayashi H, Miura Y, Iwazu Y, Mukai H, Mori Y, Kuchimaru T, Ohno N, Aiba T, Okada R, Kamimura D, Shiba D, Kurosu H, Kuro OM.Bone mineral loss damages renal tubules in mice.Commun Biol. 2026 Jan 22. Early access article.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
17. Li Z, Ma M, Shen S, Ma R, Kong W, Wu Y, Ding Q, Ying H, Li Y.MRG15 decline in aged/injured MuSCs hinders regeneration via differentiation defects.Cell Regen. 2026 Jan 25;15(1):8.Note: From the abstract: “Skeletal muscle aging is characterized by a functional decline in muscle stem cells (MuSCs), yet the key regulatory mechanisms driving this deterioration remain poorly understood. By integrating transcriptomic profiles from aged MuSCs with data from C2C12 cells exposed to spaceflight conditions (which mimic an aging-like phenotype), we identified MORF4-related gene on chromosome 15 (MRG15) as a putative epigenetic regulator involved in age-related myogenic decline. Using a MuSC-specific inducible knockout (iKO) mouse model, we found that loss of MRG15 severely compromises myogenic differentiation and muscle regeneration.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
18. Racca A, Pignataro P, Zerlotin R, Esposito G, Balzamino BO, Micera A, Grano M, Santucci D.Behavioral and neurobiological correlates of resilience in the hindlimb unloading mouse model: A longitudinal ethogram with neurotrophin profile.Life (Basel). 2026 Jan 15;16(1):137.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
19. Yin G, Tian C, Jiang Q, Wang G, Shao L, Li Q, Li Y, Yu M.Fabrication and sensing characterization of ionic polymer-metal composite sensors for human motion monitoring.Sensors (Basel). 2026 Jan 7;26(2):394.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.

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