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The Effects of Simulated Weightlessness on Apoptosis of Osteoblast
Hui-Yun Xu, Long An, Zhe Wang, Jian-Ping Cao, Peng Shang*
Institute of Special Environmental Biophysics, Key Laboratory for Space Biosciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
Abstract: To investigate the effects of two dimensional rotating wall vessels (2D-RWVs) simulated weightlessness on apoptosis in osteoblasts， one group of cultured MG-63 cells were exposed to 2D-RWVs simulated weightlessness for 12 h. At the same time， the two other groups of cells were cultured in stationary control group and horizontal rotation control group. Flow cytometer was used to detect cell apoptosis. And the gene expression of bcl-2， p53， NF-κB (p65) was examined by RT-PCR or Western blot. The results showed that after 12 h exposure to simulated weightlessness， MG-63 cells displayed the tendency to apoptosis， and the expression of bcl-2 and NF-κB (p65) mRNA decreased significantly， P53 expression increased. Exposure to simulated weightlessness for 12 h might influence the expression of apoptosis-related factors and switch on apoptosis in osteoblast-like cells， which could destroy the balance of bone formation and bone resorption， so lead to bone loss of astronauts.
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