1. Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) and Exosome Profiling from a Year-Long Human Spaceflight Reveals Circulating Biomarkers
- Author
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Daniela Bezdan, Kirill Grigorev, Cem Meydan, Fanny A. Pelissier Vatter, Michele Cioffi, Varsha Rao, Matthew MacKay, Kiichi Nakahira, Philip Burnham, Ebrahim Afshinnekoo, Craig Westover, Daniel Butler, Chris Mozsary, Timothy Donahoe, Jonathan Foox, Tejaswini Mishra, Serena Lucotti, Brinda K. Rana, Ari M. Melnick, Haiying Zhang, Irina Matei, David Kelsen, Kenneth Yu, David C. Lyden, Lynn Taylor, Susan M. Bailey, Michael P. Snyder, Francine E. Garrett-Bakelman, Stephan Ossowski, Iwijn De Vlaminck, and Christopher E. Mason
- Subjects
Space Medicine ,Omics ,Science - Abstract
Summary: 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.
- Published
- 2020
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