Cell therapy, especially on a large scale, will require a significant increase in high quality stem cell production. Through research launched aboard Ax-2 in May 2023, scientists took an important step towards seeing if space could be the tool to solve this issue.
The Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute partnered with Axiom Space to launch the Stellar Stem Cells in Space project which explored the production of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from skin cells in low-Earth orbit. The mission marked the first time in which iPSCs were manufactured in space by astronauts.
iPSCs are important in medicine because they can produce a variety of tissue cells, including heart, brain, and blood tissues, which could be used in regenerative medicine on Earth. Maintaining pluripotency, the ability to transform into all those cell types, is crucial for cell therapy. However, Earth’s gravity can cause some challenges to keeping pluripotency during their production. It is difficult for the iPSCs to expand and grow under these conditions.
“When the stress of gravity is not there pulling on the cells, we want to test whether they grow faster, have fewer genetic changes and remain in the pluripotent state,” said Clive Svendsen, PhD, executive director of the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute and co-principal investigator on the mission. “Then, when we turn them into the critical cells we need for healthcare, we will see if they do it better in microgravity. That is the goal of this new mission, and we are all very excited to see what happens up there.”
For the study, the team sent stem cells and skin cells to the International Space Station for five days. Axiom astronauts Rayyanah Barnaw and Peggy Whitson conducted this study on behalf of the scientists in orbit. Analyzing the stem cells in orbit showed researchers how quickly the cells divide in microgravity. This paired with data on the process of reprogramming adult skin cells into stem cells in space could give a good picture of the potential for stem cell production in space.
“If we can grow cells two- or three-fold better than what we can do on the ground, that’s really exciting not just for basic science for using these stem cells but also for clinical applications,” said Stellar Stem Cells in Space co-principal investigator Arun Sharma, PhD.
The data was returned back to the researchers on Earth for analysis. More stem-cell-focused experiments are planned to follow to build on these initial results.
"It is exciting to see the wide range of important research that will be conducted on this mission and to be taking the first steps in developing future in-space manufacturing applications for some of our biomedical products," said Christian Maender, executive vice president of in-space solutions at Axiom Space.
This project is part of the NASA In-Space Production (InSPA) program.
