June 22, 2011 —     Cara DeMoss and Will Grey, Morehead State University juniors, and Chantal Cappalletti, a visiting Ph.D. degree student from the University of Rome, recently had their experiment launched into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Click here to access the photo gallery.

    The overall experiment, called GlioLab, is a joint project between Kentucky Space/ MSU’s Space Science Center and the GAUSS-Group of Astrodynamics at the “Sapienza” University of Rome. The launch and return of the payload was organized by Kentucky Space through its strategic recently formed Exomedicine Institute.

    Grey and DeMoss, both biology majors, have been culturing a cancer cell line for more than a year. The majority of their work takes place in the Magrane Molecular Biology Laboratory in Lappin Hall.

    “The cancer cell line we are studying is known as Glioblastoma Multiforme. This cancer cell type is found in brain cancer tumors and is considered the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer. This type of cancer affects astrocytes, a glial cell in the central nervous system. Astrocytes are extremely important supporting cells in the human nervous system. Currently the only treatment for this cancer is radiation and chemotherapy,” said DeMoss, the daughter of Darrin and Angela DeMoss of Morehead.

    According to the MSU students, previous research has shown that in some cell lines microgravity decreases cell growth. The goal of the experiment aboard Endeavour was to see if the Glioblastoma cell line was influenced by ionizing radiation and microgravity.

    “From here, we will be able to see how we can adjust the experiment in collaboration with the Space Science Center and our colleagues in Italy to develop a Cube Lab known as GlioLab. GlioLab will house a number of vials containing our cells and enable us to perform more experimental replicates at once in microgravity,” said DeMoss.

    GlioLab is being designed and built at the MSU Space Science Center by MSU students and visiting students from the University of Rome in collaboration with Kentucky Space engineers.

    The experimental model aboard Endeavour utilized a Liquid Mixing Apparatus (LMA) the students obtained with the help of Kentucky Space and Instrumentation Technology Associates (ITA). The device is basically a tube-like structure that has two chambers separated by a membrane. One of the chambers contained the Glioblastoma culture and DMEM F12 media, which is a liquid that provides growth factors and nutrients to the cells. The other chamber contained RNA protect solution, which was used to fix the cells while they were exposed to microgravity so the students could later analyze the RNA expression of the cancerous cells. Twenty-four hours before the landing, an astronaut aboard Endeavour pressed a plunger on the LMA allowing the RNA protect to come into contact with the Glioblastoma culture.

    DeMoss and Grey will now be able to compare the RNA expression of the cells exposed to microgravity to those cultured in the laboratory under gravitational conditions. Complimentary RNA expression research will be performed on the samples in Italy.

    “It is hard to imagine,” said Grey, the son of Len and Donna Grey of Morehead, of our research going into space. “A lot of time and hard work went into getting the experiment ready for lift-off.”

    After almost two years of planning and working on the project, the glioblastoma cells were loaded aboard Endeavour (STS-134) and launched into space on May 16.

    “It was awesome,” said DeMoss of the launch. “It is hard to describe it; the sound was incredible.”

    The space shuttle successfully returned to the Kennedy Space Center on June 1, where the Glioblastoma culture was extracted from the LMA, split and shipped to MSU and Rome for analysis.

    According to Grey, he and DeMoss will start analyzing the specimen once they have mastered the techniques necessary to quantitate RNA.

    “It is pretty cool,” said Grey. “It is still hard to believe that we worked on an experiment that was loaded on the space shuttle, flown in space and now is back here at MSU.”

    Along with Grey and DeMoss, GlioLab team members include Dr. Ben Malphrus, director of the MSU Space Science Center; Dr. Darrin DeMoss, MSU professor of biology; Chantal Cappalletti and Giocomo Marini, Ph.D. degree students at the University of Rome, who are currently working at MSU, Space Science Center student Julia O’Brien; and Daniel Erb and Twyman Clements from Kentucky Space.

    Additional information is available by calling the Space Science Center at 783-2381.