Effects of simulated microgravity on cytoskeleton and apoptosis of human brain nervous tissue

To investigate the influence of simulated microgravity on the morphological structure, skeletal system and apoptosis of the nervous tissue. Human brain tumor cells were cultured by separated cell methods for 7 days, then randomly divided into two groups, one for static culture, and another for rotary processing. The morphology and ultrastructure were observed under inverted microscope and transmission electron microscopy. The surface topography was observed by scanning electron microscopy. A second layer of TRITC-conjugated antibody for β-tubulin and the cytochemical labeling phalloidin-FITC for F-actin showed the distribution of cytoskeleton. When the rotary time lengthened to 7 d and 14 d, cell somas became significantly larger, adhesion ability declined. The 14 d rotary group showed that organelle structures became fewer in cytoplasm, mitochondrial cristae were clear and disassociated with each other, and large vacuoles produced. The rotary group indicated that F-actin and β-tubulin were highly disorganized, and significantly decreased in expression. F-actin formed a loop around the nucleus. Furthermore, the nucleus dissociated into several micronuclei. The results indicate that simulated microgravity can affect the morphology and ultrastructure of nervous tissue cells, can cause highly disorganized distribution of cytoskeleton, with the increasing of cell apoptosis since a week rotary.