Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Cogoli, A..
Attachment to a substrate and survival of human embryonic kidney cells (HEK) was tested in an incubator installed in the flight-deck of the space shuttle Challenger. The HEK cells produce the enzyme urokinase and are candidates for electrophoretic separation. Attachment of the cells to a substrate is mandatory for survival. Analysis of the samples shows that cells adhere, spread and survive in 0 g conditions as well as the ground controls at 1 g.
An experiment to study the effect of weightlessness on lymphocyte proliferation to detect possible alteration of the cells responsible for the immune response during long-duration space flights is described. Human lymphocytes in culture medium will be delivered shortly before launch in an incubator which will be kept at 37C. Mitogen will be added to the culture. A control without mitogen will be run in parallel. After 70 hours of incubation, radioactive thymidine will be added. After two hours, cellular activity will be stopped by fixation and incubator power switched off. Later, the amount of incorporated thymidine will be determined and the cell morphology and the distribution of cell organelles will be investigated.