Human skin cells provided by Dr. Marjana Tomic-Canic, director of the wound healing and regenerative medicine research program at the Miller School of Medicine, heads to the International Space Station for follow-up testing as part of a voyage CUTISS Research. a Swiss society for life sciences.
On March 15, SpaceX launched CRS-27 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a commercial resupply trip to the International Space Station (ISS). On board the rocket are vehicle hardware, space hardware, and human skin cells from the Wound Healing and Regenerative Medicine Research Program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
For more than three decades, Dr. Marjana Tomic-Canic, co-chair of research and director of the wound healing and regenerative medicine research program at Miller School of Medicine, studied skin biology. His work focuses on wound healing through the mechanisms that control tissue repair and regeneration.
Because of his expertise, his team was approached by CUTISS, a clinical-stage Swiss life sciences company focused on regenerative medicine and skin tissue engineering, to participate in a unique experiment to test cell healing. of human skin in microgravity, heading to the ISS. for more tests.
“We are very excited to partner with [CUTISS] and help them run these experiments in space,” he said. "Thanks to incredible technological advances, space travel is becoming more accessible and opening up exciting possibilities."
These live skin cells were cultured by Tomic-Canic and his team, including Research Professor Irena Pastar and Research Assistant Professor Andrew Sawaya, Miller School of Medicine. Tomic-Canic and his team are also providing logistical support for the research mission, including shipping live cells to the launch site at Cape Canaveral and arranging a backup shipment if the launch is delayed.
"To achieve something like this, each step requires careful preparation and rigor," he said. “You're dealing with living cells, so there are a lot of details that need to be done to make it work. The entire experiment is a perfect example of true team science at its best. Many people have to complete components of their work with minimal margins of error, and everything must be well coordinated and on time,” he added.
The cells are now kept alive and observed in space by a special microlaboratory designed for advanced research in microgravity by the Swiss company SpacePharma. These fully automated and remote-controlled laboratories are based on "lab-on-a-chip" technology, devices a few millimeters in size that integrate one or more laboratory functions and analytical capabilities on a single chip.
Once in space, the cells will undergo various tests, including exposure to microgravity, radiation, and other space-related factors for a period of time before being returned to Earth for further analysis.
Exposure to microgravity and space radiation can affect the physical and biological properties of skin cells, which can affect their ability to repair tissue.
"We really don't know a lot about what happens in a microgravity situation in terms of how cells behave in the context of how they heal and how they respond to these new challenges," Tomic-Canic said.
The purpose of the experiment is to push the boundaries of innovation in regenerative medicine and to understand how exposure to the extraterrestrial environment can affect human health.
“We are delighted to be at the forefront of this exciting new frontier in regenerative medicine research. This experiment has the potential to open up new insights into the behavior of human skin cells, which could ultimately lead to new and innovative treatments for patients with burns and other skin injuries," said Daniela Marino, Executive Director of CUTISS. .
The hope is that the data collected from the trial will lead to the development of new regenerative medicine approaches that can be used to treat skin wounds and contribute to scientific understanding of the mechanisms that control tissue repair, regeneration and wound healing. fur.
"That's the best part of science, when you don't know," Tomic-Canic said. "It's great that a scientist can be involved in even a small part of research like this because it opens up new possibilities. The way I see it, whatever we find will be new and will raise more and more new questions related to conquering new frontiers.