ABSTRACT
The results of the biological space experiment "Interferon" performed by two international cosmonaut teams (26 May 1980, and 16 May 1981) aboard space laboratory Solyut-6 are reported: (1) Human lymphocytes separated from blood of healthy donors and placed into "Interferon I" equipment could be kept for 7 days in suspension culture under spaceflight conditions. Interferon production could be induced in human lymphocytes by preparations of different origin: virus, synthetic polyribonucleotides, bacterial protein and plant pigment. An increased lymphocyte interferon production in space laboratory compared to ground control was observed. (2) Human interferon preparations and interferon inducers placed in space laboratory at room temperature for 7 days maintained their biological activity. (3) A decrease of induced interferon production and natural killer activity of lymphocytes isolated from peripheral blood of cosmonauts was observed on the 1st day on Earth after 7-days spaceflight.
Subject(s)
Interferon Type I/biosynthesis , Lymphocytes/physiology , Space Flight , Weightlessness , Animals , Cells, Cultured , Humans , Interferon Inducers/pharmacology , Killer Cells, Natural/physiology , Lymphocytes/drug effects , Lymphocytes/metabolism , Mice , Mice, Inbred BALB CABSTRACT
The results of the biological space experiment "Interferon" performed by two international cosmonaut crews aboard the space laboratory Solyut-6 are reported. Human lymphocytes separated from the blood of healthy donors and placed into "Interferon I" equipment could be kept for 7 days in suspension culture under spaceflight conditions. Interferon production could be induced in human lymphocytes by preparations of different origin, such as virus, synthetic polyribonucleotides, bacterial protein and plant pigment. An increased lymphocyte interferon production was observed in the space laboratory as compared to the ground control. A decrease of induced interferon production and natural killer cell activity was observed in the cosmonauts' lymphocytes on the 1st day on Earth after 7 days spaceflight.
Subject(s)
Interferon Type I/biosynthesis , Killer Cells, Natural/physiology , Lymphocytes/physiology , Space Flight , Cell Membrane Permeability/drug effects , Cells, Cultured , Humans , Interferon Inducers/pharmacology , Lymphocytes/drug effects , Lymphocytes/metabolismABSTRACT
Experiments to study the effect of weightlessness on the emergence and development of cell organelles and genetic structures were carried out during 18.5 days aboard the biological satellite Cosmos-936. The experiments were conducted on the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster Orgeon-R. Their purpose was to investigate possible chromosomal aberrations and gene mutations in the sex chromosomes of males and females. The investigations showed that the frequency of mutations in the progeny of specimens exposed to weightlessness did not differ from the controls. The experiments with higher plants were performed on the seedlings of Crepis capillaris and Zea mays grown from seeds aboard the biosatellite. The cytological examination of Crepis capillaris chromosomes demonstrated that there were no structural chromosome changes in the experimental and control variants. Maize seedlings grown in weightlessness and examined later in the laboratory showed that cells of the root meristem cultivated in weightlessness were much larger than the controls. Mitochondria of seedlings exposed to weightlessness were swollen and had a low content of membranous material.
