Does Hypergravity Regulate Gene Expression of Integrins and other Focal Adhesion Components in the Matrix-Integrin Signaling Pathway?
J. Krishnakumar1,2,3, E. Almeida1 and W. Vercoutere1. 1NASA Ames Research Ctr, 2National Space Grant Foundation, and 3California State University, East Bay. Humans and other animals exposed to the decreased mechanical loading of microgravity during space exploration suffer from atrophy in mechanosensitive tissues including muscle and bone. For long-duration missions, a suitable countermeasure will be necessary. Artificially inducing gravity via rotation may provide the required countermeasure. One of the goals in our laboratory is to identify the molecular pathways involved in this cellular response to altered gravity, to help answer how and why artificial gravity may function as a countermeasure. Our early studies indicated that increased gravity-loading may stimulate bone cell (osteoblast) proliferation via extracellular matrix-integrin signaling pathways. We hypothesized that the origin of bone cell proliferative response to increased gravity may be at the gene expression level of t
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- Does Hypergravity Regulate Gene Expression of Integrins and other Focal Adhesion Components in the Matrix-Integrin Signaling Pathway?
- Do they simply tether pathway components or do they actively participate in the signaling process?
