TY - JOUR

T1 - The Fight against Cancer by Microgravity

T2 - The Multicellular Spheroid as a Metastasis Model

AU - Grimm, Daniela

AU - Schulz, Herbert

AU - Krüger, Marcus

AU - Cortés-Sánchez, José Luis

AU - Egli, Marcel

AU - Kraus, Armin

AU - Sahana, Jayashree

AU - Corydon, Thomas J.

AU - Hemmersbach, Ruth

AU - Wise, Petra M.

AU - Infanger, Manfred

AU - Wehland, Markus

N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by Deutsches Zentrum f?r Luft-und Raumfahrt (DLR), BMWi projects 50WB1524 and 50WB1924 (D.G.). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2022/3/12

Y1 - 2022/3/12

N2 - Cancer is a disease exhibiting uncontrollable cell growth and spreading to other parts of the organism. It is a heavy, worldwide burden for mankind with high morbidity and mortality. Therefore, groundbreaking research and innovations are necessary. Research in space under microgravity (µg) conditions is a novel approach with the potential to fight cancer and develop future cancer therapies. Space travel is accompanied by adverse effects on our health, and there is a need to counteract these health problems. On the cellular level, studies have shown that real (r-) and simulated (s-) µg impact survival, apoptosis, proliferation, migration, and adhesion as well as the cytoskeleton, the extracellular matrix, focal adhesion, and growth factors in cancer cells. Moreover, the µg-environment induces in vitro 3D tumor models (multicellular spheroids and organoids) with a high potential for preclinical drug targeting, cancer drug development, and studying the processes of cancer progression and metastasis on a molecular level. This review focuses on the effects of r-and s-µg on different types of cells deriving from thyroid, breast, lung, skin, and prostate cancer, as well as tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, we summarize the current knowledge of the impact of µg on cancerous stem cells. The information demonstrates that µg has become an important new technology for increasing current knowledge of cancer biology.

AB - Cancer is a disease exhibiting uncontrollable cell growth and spreading to other parts of the organism. It is a heavy, worldwide burden for mankind with high morbidity and mortality. Therefore, groundbreaking research and innovations are necessary. Research in space under microgravity (µg) conditions is a novel approach with the potential to fight cancer and develop future cancer therapies. Space travel is accompanied by adverse effects on our health, and there is a need to counteract these health problems. On the cellular level, studies have shown that real (r-) and simulated (s-) µg impact survival, apoptosis, proliferation, migration, and adhesion as well as the cytoskeleton, the extracellular matrix, focal adhesion, and growth factors in cancer cells. Moreover, the µg-environment induces in vitro 3D tumor models (multicellular spheroids and organoids) with a high potential for preclinical drug targeting, cancer drug development, and studying the processes of cancer progression and metastasis on a molecular level. This review focuses on the effects of r-and s-µg on different types of cells deriving from thyroid, breast, lung, skin, and prostate cancer, as well as tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, we summarize the current knowledge of the impact of µg on cancerous stem cells. The information demonstrates that µg has become an important new technology for increasing current knowledge of cancer biology.

KW - Breast cancer

KW - Cancer stem cells

KW - Clinostat

KW - Colorectal cancer

KW - Liver cancer

KW - Microgravity

KW - Multicellular spheroids

KW - Omics studies

KW - Organoids

KW - Prostate cancer

KW - Random positioning machine

KW - Rotating wall vessel

KW - Spaceflight

KW - Thyroid cancer

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126334538&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/ijms23063073

DO - 10.3390/ijms23063073

M3 - Review

C2 - 35328492

AN - SCOPUS:85126334538

VL - 23

JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences

JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences

SN - 1661-6596

IS - 6

M1 - 3073

ER -