Bezdan Daniela, Grigorev Kirill, Meydan Cem, Pelissier Vatter Fanny A, Cioffi Michele, Rao Varsha, MacKay Matthew, Nakahira Kiichi, Burnham Philip, Afshinnekoo Ebrahim, Westover Craig, Butler Daniel, Mozsary Chris, Donahoe Timothy, Foox Jonathan, Mishra Tejaswini, Lucotti Serena, Rana Brinda K, Melnick Ari M, Zhang Haiying, Matei Irina, Kelsen David, Yu Kenneth, Lyden David C, Taylor Lynn, Bailey Susan M, Snyder Michael P, Garrett-Bakelman Francine E, Ossowski Stephan, De Vlaminck Iwijn, Mason Christopher E
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, 1305 York Avenue, Y13-05, New York, NY 10021, USA.
Institute of Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases, University Hospital, Tubingen, Germany.
iScience. 2020 Nov 25;23(12):101844. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101844. eCollection 2020 Dec 18.
Liquid biopsies based on cell-free DNA (cfDNA) or exosomes provide a noninvasive approach to monitor human health and disease but have not been utilized for astronauts. Here, we profile cfDNA characteristics, including fragment size, cellular deconvolution, and nucleosome positioning, in an astronaut during a year-long mission on the International Space Station, compared to his identical twin on Earth and healthy donors. We observed a significant increase in the proportion of cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) inflight, and analysis of post-flight exosomes in plasma revealed a 30-fold increase in circulating exosomes and patient-specific protein cargo (including brain-derived peptides) after the year-long mission. This longitudinal analysis of astronaut cfDNA during spaceflight and the exosome profiles highlights their utility for astronaut health monitoring, as well as cf-mtDNA levels as a potential biomarker for physiological stress or immune system responses related to microgravity, radiation exposure, and the other unique environmental conditions of spaceflight.
基于游离DNA（cfDNA）或外泌体的液体活检提供了一种监测人类健康和疾病的非侵入性方法，但尚未应用于宇航员。在这里，我们对一名在国际空间站执行为期一年任务的宇航员的cfDNA特征进行了分析，包括片段大小、细胞反卷积和核小体定位，并将其与他在地球上的同卵双胞胎以及健康捐赠者进行了比较。我们观察到飞行中游离线粒体DNA（cf-mtDNA）的比例显著增加，对飞行后血浆中外泌体的分析显示，在为期一年的任务后，循环外泌体和患者特异性蛋白质货物（包括脑源性肽）增加了30倍。对宇航员在太空飞行期间的cfDNA和外泌体图谱进行的纵向分析突出了它们在宇航员健康监测中的作用，以及cf-mtDNA水平作为与微重力、辐射暴露和其他独特太空飞行环境条件相关的生理应激或免疫系统反应的潜在生物标志物的作用。
