Expression data from drosophila melanogaster

Space travel presents unlimited opportunities for exploration and discovery but requires a more complete understanding of the immunological consequences of long-term exposure to the conditions of spaceflight. To understand these consequences better and to contribute to design of effective countermeasures we used the Drosophila model to compare innate immune responses to bacteria and fungi in flies that were either raised on earth or in outer space aboard the NASA Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-121). Microarrays were used to characterize changes in gene expression that occur in response to infection by bacteria and fungus in drosophila that were either hatched and raised in outer space (microgravity) or on earth (normal gravity). Whole Oregon R strain drosophila melanogaster fruit flies either raised on earth or in space that were (1) uninfected (2) infected with bacteria (Escherichia coli) or (3) infected with fungus (Beauveria bassiana) were used for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.

太空旅行为探索与发现提供了无限可能，但同时也要求我们更深入地理解长期暴露于太空飞行条件下对免疫系统的综合影响。为了更深刻地洞察这些影响并助力有效应对措施的制定，本研究采用果蝇作为模型，对比分析了在地球上培育或在国际空间站发现号航天飞机（STS-121任务）上外太空培育的果蝇对细菌和真菌的天然免疫反应。通过微阵列技术，本研究旨在描绘出果蝇在细菌（大肠杆菌）和真菌（球孢白僵菌）感染下，无论是在外太空（微重力环境）还是在地球（正常重力环境）孵化与培育过程中，基因表达的变化。本研究使用了全奥勒冈R系黑腹果蝇，这些果蝇要么在地球上培育，要么在太空中培育，并分为三组：（1）未感染组，（2）感染细菌（大肠杆菌）组，（3）感染真菌（球孢白僵菌）组，用于RNA提取和Affymetrix微阵列杂交实验。