Molecular changes in the liver of space travelers provide clues about aging

UCF's Michal Masternak and his team have identified molecular changes in the liver that happen when space travelers experience radiation and microgravity. These changes – that resemble accelerated aging – provide new insight into how prolonged space missions may increase health risks for astronauts and reveal potential targets for therapies that could combat age-related diseases on Earth.

We focused on the liver because it is one of the major metabolic organs in our body. What we found was that just 24 hours after radiation exposure, there are many genetic changes in the liver that are remarkably similar to what happens during aging. We can assume that if someone were in space much longer, the damage could be much greater."

Michal Masternak, professor of medicine and leader of the UCF College of Medicine's aging and space medicine research efforts

For their study, UCF researchers and scientists from the U.S. created a simulated deep space environment in the lab. The team exposed animal models to simulated microgravity for 14 days and galactic cosmic radiation and solar particle events at NASA Space Radiation Laboratory trying to mimic the dosage that astronauts would be exposed to during a trip to Mars.