Crustaceans May Play A Role In Wound Healing
BioSTAR West and Harvey Mudd College (HMC) are collaborating on
science experiments to be launched on the STS-118 Space Shuttle
Endeavour mission scheduled for August 7, 2007.
HMC professors Shenda Baker and Elizabeth Orwin will work with
investigators from Hawaii Chitopure Inc., BioSTAR West and the
University of Louisville on studies of human cell responses in
microgravity during the scheduled 11-day flight, according to
HMC.
Baker and Orwin helped coordinate the research design and will
provide oversight to the experiment, which is based on years of
space flight efforts and headed up by William Wiesmann, M.D.,
president and CEO of Hawaii Chitopure Inc., senior managing partner
of BioSTAR West and a trustee at Harvey Mudd College.
"I'm delighted to be a part of this outstanding team and have
enjoyed contributing to these research efforts that should increase
our understanding of the mechanisms of immune system failure
following trauma," said Baker.
"We benefit from the long history and partnership of Dr.
Wiesmann with NASA and Harvey Mudd College, as well as from the
opportunity to continue to involve undergraduates and faculty in
one of the most innovative and rare opportunities to study the
systemic responses to trauma through human cell-based genomic and
proteomic responses."
Astronauts and space-flown mammalian cells show a similar
weakened immune response to wounds and injury. These experiments
will study the effects of microgravity on wound repair and the
ability of chitosan-based materials, a polysaccharide found in the
shells of crustaceans, to accelerate the wound healing process,
reduce infection and ultimately reduce wound scarring.
Because the effects of microgravity on immune and wound-healing
cells are similar to the body's response following trauma on Earth,
these experiments also offer an opportunity to observe the
fundamental genetic responses to these compounds with and without
infection.
"It's exciting to continue to be a part of the space program and
to be able to include faculty and students from Harvey Mudd
College," said Wiesmann. "It is interesting to note that on this
planet, although environment and temperature and atmosphere have
changed over the millennia, the one constant has been gravity.
While bacterial cells seem to thrive in microgravity, mammalian
cells have hindered responses to stimuli."
Researchers will examine the effect of microgravity on human
monocytes, which are typically one of the first responders to
infection and trauma, and will also be able to monitor the
transformations of cells that return from space.
During the duration of the mission, the team will conduct an
identical experiment simultaneously on Earth. Following the
mission, analyses will be done to compare the space-based and
ground-based cellular expression.