NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,205 26 June 2026 (Space Life Science Research Results)

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

In case you missed it: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently posted an article to their News and Stories Based on Science webpage titled, “What could we learn by landing humans on Mars?” To view the article, go to: https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/what-could-we-learn-by-landing-humans-on-mars.

Papers deriving from NASA support:

1. Carter KJ, Smith JD, Huang AS, Stern C, Kramer LA, Hasan KM, Chen X, Martin BA, Young M, Brunstetter TJ, Macias BR, Laurie SS.Repeat exposures to spaceflight or bedrest and spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome findings.JAMA Ophthalmol. 2026 Jun 18. Online ahead of print.PIs: A.S. Huang, B.A. MartinNote: ISS results. From the abstract: “Peripapillary total retinal thickness (TRT) extending from the Bruch membrane opening to 250 µm was quantified using optical coherence tomography imaging before and during spaceflight or the spaceflight analog head-down tilt bed rest (HDTBR). Magnetic resonance imaging was performed before and after spaceflight or HDTBR to quantify changes in brain volumetrics. Included were astronauts and participants in HDTBR from the International Space Station or German Aerospace Center: envihab facility. Study data were analyzed from November to December 2025.”
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 10.5
   
   Funding: “This study was supported by directed research from NASA’s Human Research Program and NASA grants 80NSSC22K1803 (Dr Huang), 80NSSC22K0023 (Dr Martin), and 80NSSC20K1034 (Dr Huang) and also an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (Dr Huang).”
2. Chaudhary A, Lin X, Vitaterna MH, Auch B, Liachko I, Green SJ.Metagenome-assembled genome sequence of an uncultured Roseburia sp. generated from mouse fecal DNA from the International Space Station.Microbiol Resour Announc. 2026 Jun 15;e0104725. Online ahead of print.PI: M.H. VitaternaNote: ISS results. This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 0.7
   
   Funding: “This work was supported by NASA grant no. 80NSSC20K1519 to M.H.V. and S.J.G.”
3. Pla MM, Lee FH, Smith MF, Lobo AA, Diaz TE, Cockrell AS, Bowles DE.Double-stranded RNA and reverse transcriptase signatures of endogenous retroviruses after exposure to spaceflight environment related stressors.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jun 19. Online ahead of print.PI: D.E. BowlesNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.3
   
   Funding: PI reports NASA grants 80NSSC19K1057 and NNX16AK20G funding.
4. Hatch K, Murphy EK, Ingersoll RG, Perl DP, Davis CM, Iacono D.Long-term molecular effects of ¹⁶O-ion exposure in rat brain and implications for space radiation risk.npj Microgravity. 2026 Jun 12. Early access article.PI: C.M. DavisNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 5.1
   
   Funding: “This study was supported by: DoW/USU Brain Tissue Repository and Neuropathology Research Program, Project award #: USU # PAT-74-10982; and NASA awards NNX15AC71G and 80NSSC22K0022; and USUHS New Faculty Hiring Funds to CMD. CMD: previously affiliated with the Division of Behavioral Biology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD.”
5. Suman S, Kumar S, Angdisen J, Kallakury BVS, Datta K, Fornace AJ Jr.Dose and LET-dependence of gastric cancer risk in Apc^1638N/+ mice exposed to space-relevant radiation types.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jul;51:64-70.PI: A.J. Fornace JrNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.3
   
   Funding: “We gratefully acknowledge funding support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under grant number 80NSSC22K1279.”
6. Robin A, Reinarz CD, Pentinat-Llurba H, Zaman SY, Rasmussen CJ, McKnight JR, Haddad L, Zawieja DC, Diaz-Artiles A.Dose-dependent effects of graded altered gravity during hypovolaemia on central haemodynamics and cardiovascular autonomic regulation.Exp Physiol. 2026 Jun 19. Online ahead of print.PI: A. RobinNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.0
   
   Funding: “This work was supported by the Translational Research Institute for Space Health through NASA Cooperative Agreement NNX16AO69A.”
7. Steltzer SS, Migotsky N, Phillips T, Lamia SN, Abeid BA, Lee K, Bae SH, Leek C, Grossman S, Shaik M, Risha A, Frey K, Loebel C, Lee JH, Shah YM, Abraham AC, Killian ML.The developing tendon and enthesis are hypoxic and rely on hypoxia-inducible factor 1a during postnatal development.Development. 2026 Jun 22;153(16) dev205458.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 3.6
   
   Funding: “Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (P30AR069620 and R01AR082348 to M.L.K.), the National Science Foundation (NSF CAREER1944448 to M.L.K.) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) (80NSSC20M0124 to S.S.S. and A.R.). The National Institutes of Health supported Shapeworks software development and implementation (NIBIB-U24EB029011, NIAMS-R01AR076120, NHLBI-R01HL135568, NIBIB-R01EB016701, NIA R01AG079163 and NCI-UH3CA268091).”
8. Morello M, Cochran JD, Gholson BA, Xie CR, Huang W, Mikkilineni S, Nelson S, McNamara C, Walsh K, Lindner JR.Mosaic loss-of-Y chromosome in men is associated with aortic enlargement but not aortic stenosis.JACC Adv. 2026 Jun 17;5(7):102911.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 5.5
   
   Funding: “Dr. Lindner is supported by grants R01-HL171377, R01-HL078610, and R01-HL165422, from the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD; and grant 18-18HCFBP_2 to 0009 from NASA. Dr. Walsh is supported by NIH grants R01-AG092528 and R01-AG086508. Dr. Cochrane is supported by a Wagner Fellowship and iPrime Student to Fellowship Award from UVA.”
9. Fliflet AM, Spradlin RA, Tan Y, Nishitha Vijayan A, Choi SJ, Kao WC, Aksamitiene E, Nelappana M, Ding S, Huang KY, Joshi A, Kambar N, Bludgen T, Meehan M, Boss JL, Knipp M, Fan H, Leal C, Sunde RA, Dobrucki LW, Boppart SA, Kong HJ, Sweedler JV, Boppart MD.Exercise training stimulates the release of glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1)-enriched extracellular vesicles that promote angiogenesis.Faseb j. 2026 Jun 30;40(12):e72052.PI: M.D. BoppartNote: This article may be obtained online without charge.
   
   Journal Impact Factor: 4.3
   
   Funding: “This study was supported by NIAMS of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01AR072735 (to MDB), Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) Award (T0701) under a Cooperative Agreement with NASA (NNX16AO69A) (to MDB), NIH P30 DA018310(to JVS), and the NIH/NIBIB Center for Label-free Imaging and Multiscale Biophotonics (CLIMB) (P41EB031772) (to SAB). AMF was supported by a Beckman Institute Graduate Student Fellowship.”
10. Jacobs S, Charvat J, Reitzel R, Wear M, Van Baalen M.Astronauts of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Cohort profile.BMJ Open. 2026 Jun 18;16(6):e112490.Note: From the abstract: “Occupational cohorts are important to understanding the unique exposures of a workforce. The individuals selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to be astronauts experience occupational exposures unlike any other. To better understand the short- and long-term health effects of spaceflight, health and exposure data are collected on this cohort through clinical and other surveillance settings.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
    
    Journal Impact Factor: 2.5
    
    Funding: “The astronaut corps is an occupational cohort employed by the US Government. This work is supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Human Health and Performance Directorate, NASA’s Crew Health and Safety program and the Human Health and Performance Contract (HHPC) from NASA to KBR (Contract Numbers: NNJ15HK11B and 80JSC025D0068).”
11. Landon LB, Baxley AD, Bell ST, Stahn AC, Russell DW, Roma PG.A brief Meaningful Work and Enjoyment Scale (MeWES) for extreme operational environments.Mil Psychol. 2026 Jun 17;1-18.Note: From the abstract: “Individuals working in extreme operational environments face sustained psychological and physiological stressors that can degrade wellbeing and performance. This study presents the development and validation of the Meaningful Work and Enjoyment Scale (MeWES), a brief measure designed to assess the extent to which individuals perceive their work as meaningful and enjoyable in isolated, confined, and high-demand settings.”
    
    Journal Impact Factor: 1.3
    
    Funding: “This research was supported by NASA grant [80NSSC17K0644] (Principal Investigator: D.F. Dinges), the Human Health and Performance Contract [NNJ15HK11B], and internal funds from the US Navy, Commander, Naval Surface Forces and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI).”
12. Plante I, Poignant F, Slaba TC.Analytical calculation of the dose to a spherical target by an ion at almost all impact parameters, and calculation of the energy deposition spectra.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jul;51:33-44.Note: From the abstract: “Microdosimetry can be used to estimate or evaluate quality factors for risk assessment in radiation protection and to quantify relative biological effectiveness for treatment planning of hadron radiation therapy. Radiation physics has shown that energetic ions deposit energy at the sub-cellular level in a complex manner: the track structure. Amorphous track models such as the Local Effect Model (LEM) and the Kiefer-Chatterjee Model are often used as an approximation of the complex ion track structure. We have previously calculated an analytical expression for the dose to a spherical target fully located in the penumbra of an ion track using the LEM. In this work, the analytical calculation has been extended to include almost all impact parameters.”
    
    Journal Impact Factor: 3.3
    
    Funding: T.C. Slaba is affiliated with NASA Langley Research Center.

Other papers of interest:

1. Higashitani A, Moon JH, Hwang JI, Higashitani N, Hashizume T, Abu AA, Ooizumi K, Sazuka I, Hashizume Y, Umehara M, Alcantara AV Jr, Kim BS, Etheridge T, Szewczyk NJ, Abe T, Lee JI, Higashibata A.Reduced mechanical tactile stimulation under space microgravity affects synaptic signaling and contributes to neuromuscular aging in Caenorhabditis elegans.Faseb j. 2026 Jun 30;40(12):e72045.Note: ISS results. This article may be obtained online without charge.
2. Coelho G, Rabinstein A, David Freeman W.Neurological complications in microgravity and long duration spaceflight.npj Microgravity. 2026 Jun 13. Review. Early access article.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
3. Cusumano A, Falsini B, Martelli F, Lombardo M.A call for neurovascular monitoring in an era of longer missions and broader spaceflight participation.Ann Ist Super Sanita. 2026 Apr-Jun;62(2):97-9.Note: This article is a Commentary and may be obtained online without charge.
4. Hager LG, Eakins JS, Tanner RJ, Berger T, Matthiä DNeutron dosimetry on the International Space Station using a routine track etch personal dosemeter: Neutron dose assessments within the HAMLET project.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jun 17. Online ahead of print.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
5. Fernando GKS.Narrative review of the physiological challenges and health impacts of human spaceflight.Ceylon Journal of Science 2026;55(3):722-36. Review.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
6. Ren Z, Huang H, Wang J.Effects of the space environment on articular cartilage homeostasis: A review.npj Microgravity. 2026 Jun 19. Early access article.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
7. Schutt J, Yeisley C, Pavlus J.Expeditionary interventional radiology for human spaceflight: A framework for procedural autonomy beyond Earth.Clin Imaging. 2026 Sep;137:110859. Review.
8. Takahashi N, Fujita A, Azetsu Y, Karakawa A, Myers M, Takami M, Chatani M.Hypergravity reduces F-actin accumulation in osteoclasts, with attenuated bone resorption.PLoS One. 2026 Jun 16;21(6):e0351542.Note: From the abstract: “In the present study, osteoclasts derived from mouse bone marrow were subjected to hypergravity under three conditions: 30G exposure using a non-CO2 centrifuge system, and short- or long-term exposure to 3G or 5G using an incubator-compatible centrifuge system.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
9. Wakayama S, Wakayama T.The challenges and prospects of mammalian reproduction in extraterrestrial environments.J Reprod Dev. 2026;72(3):105-14. Review.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
10. Cucinotta FA.Non-DSB clustered damage is much more frequent than DSBs in galactic cosmic ray exposures.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jul;51:121-6.Note: From the abstract: “In this paper for the first time the frequency of complex double strand breaks (DSB) and non-DSB clustered damage behind spacecraft and tissue shielding from exposure to galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and secondary radiation are predicted.”
11. Ma Y, Peng K-L, Huang Z, Zheng S.Navigating the legal cosmos: An analysis of liability in the emerging space tourism industry.Acta Astronaut. 2026 Nov;248:391-9.
12. McKeown B, Dempster AG, Saydam S, Coulton J.How should potential space resources markets be evaluated?Acta Astronaut. 2026 Aug;245:618-31.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
13. Pierobon E, Lunati L, Wagner T, Durante M, Schuy C.Hybrid active-passive galactic cosmic ray simulator: Experimental implementation and microdosimetric characterization.Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jul;51:83-93.Note: From the abstract: “Space radiation is one of the major obstacles to space exploration. If not mitigated, radiation can interact both with biological and electronic systems, inducing damage and posing significant risk to space missions. Countermeasures can only be studied effectively with ground-based accelerators that act as a proxy for space radiation. Following an in-silico design and optimization process, we have developed a galactic cosmic ray (GCR) simulator using a hybrid active-passive methodology.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
14. Sato T.The history and perspective on quality factors proposed by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP).Life Sci Space Res. 2026 Jul;51:56-63. Review.
15. Sekel NM, Pasiakos SM.Bridging space and military nutrition: Energy balance challenges and countermeasures in extreme environments.J Nutr. 2026 Jun 15;101580.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
16. Canal R, Martinez EF, Foster JS, Bombaldi de Souza FC, Bombaldi de Souza RF, Morales MM, Pontes MC, da Rocha DN, Holliday LS, Yu F, Silva AT, Fanganiello RD, Ferreira JRM, Pelegrine AA.Enhanced pro-osteogenic regulatory modulation in mesenchymal stem cells derived from the periosteum under simulated microgravity.Cells. 2026 May 27;15(11):989.Note: A 3D clinostat was used in this study to simulate microgravity. This article may be obtained online without charge.
17. Cui Y, Zhang Z, Chang L.PhysAstro-pose: Physics-inspired semi-supervised human pose estimation in microgravity environments.Sensors (Basel). 2026 May 26;26(11):3406.Note: This article is part of Special Issue “Deep Learning Applications for Pose Estimation and Human Action Recognition-2nd Edition” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors/special_issues/KZZ3EOD253) and may be obtained online without charge.
18. Ibrahim Z, Murphy RP, Guillaume GC, Arya R, Goswami N.Circadian clock regulation of hemostasis: A systematic review of molecular pathways.Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 2026 May;10(4):106642. Review.Note: This article may be obtained online without charge.
19. Jia M, Jimu Q, Deji S, Guo Y, Wei H, Shi Z, Zhou X, Wang R.Temporal dynamics of glomerular and microvascular remodeling in high-altitude renal injury: A structure-function analysis in rats.Front Physiol. 2026 Jun 21;17:1801934.Note: From the abstract: “The temporal dynamics of renal acclimatization during the sub-acute transition to high altitude remain poorly defined. Specifically, the relationship between structural integrity and functional adaptation under sustained hypobaric hypoxia is unclear. This study aims to characterize the time-dependent trajectories of renal remodeling and identify the critical biological window for potential intervention.” This article may be obtained online without charge.
20. Schirato SR, Pieri M, Pelliccia R, Marroni A, Balestra C, Chaui-Berlinck JG.A gradient-based optimization model for predicting decompression sickness risk.Front Physiol. 2026 Jun 17;17:1852640.Note: This article is part of Research Topic “Immuno-physiological Responses in Extreme Environments” (https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/71569/immuno-physiological-responses-in-extreme-environments). The Research Topic also includes an article from previous Current Awareness List #1,188 https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2026.1763837. This article may be obtained online without charge.

astrobiology, Microgravity, NASA, space biology, space medicine, spaceline