Synergistic effects of microgravity and space radiation (Nimblegen)

Space radiations and microgravity both could cause DNA damage in cells, but the effects of microgravity on DNA damage response to space radiations are still controversial. A mRNA microarray and microRNA microarray in dauer larvae of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) that endured spaceflight environment and space radiations environment during 16.5-day Shenzhou-8 space mission were performed. The analyzation this study are further described in Gao, Y., Xu, D., Zhao, L., Zhang, M. and Sun, Y. (2015) Effects of microgravity on DNA damage response in Caenorhabditis elegans during Shenzhou-8 spaceflight. International journal of radiation biology, 91, 531-539. In our study, wild type, dys-1 mutant and ced-1 mutant strains of C.elegans endured four conditions during shenzhou-8 spaceflight mission, including spaceflight static condition(ss), spaceflight 1-g centrifugal condition(sc), ground control condition(gc) and no-transport control. Limited to the quantity of worm samples, we performed technical-repeat test but not sample-repeat test.Accordingly, 12 mRNA microarrays were performed.