Hypergravity promotes cell proliferation

Abstract

When HeLa cells, chicken embryo fibroblasts, sarcoma Galliera cells, Friend leukemia virus transformed cells and human lymphocytes are cultured in a hypergravitational field (e.g. 10 X g) proliferation rate is increased by 20-30%, whereas glucose consumption per cell is lower than at 1 X g. Tracking of cell movements on gold-coated substrates reveals that cell migration is hindered at high-g. These findings suggest that under gravitational stress the cell is either capable of shifting to other metabolic pathways and/or consumes less energy at high-g than at 1 X g. This work describes ground-based investigations related to experiments to be performed on future Spacelab missions.

Spinoculation Triggers Dynamic Actin and Cofilin Activity That Facilitates HIV-1 Infection of Transformed and Resting CD4 T Cells

“…Centrifugation of cells to study stress response in cell differentiation has a long history dating back to the early 20th century (9,33). The method was later applied to research in virology, presumably for directly depositing viral particles on cells to enhance infection (13).…”

Stimulation of DNA Polymerase α by Hypergravity Generated by Centrifugal Acceleration

“…Hypergravity stimulates proliferation of various types of human cells (6,7), presumably by enhancing the expression of early response genes such as c-myc (8,10) and activating processes involved in cell cycle progression such as phosphorylation (9). Studies of hypergravity are needed as a counterpart to those aimed at determining the influence of micro-gravity, urgently required for the near-future residents of the International Space Station.…”

“…For instance, the micro-gravity experienced in space flight is known to suppress the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-dependent gene expression of c-fos and c-jun (1,2), phorbor ester-induced T cell activation (3), gene expression in osteoblasts (4), and self-organization of microtubules (5). Hypergravity, in contrast, has been reported to promote the proliferation of several cell lines in culture (6), mitogenic responses of human lymphocytes (7), gene expression of c-myc (8), production of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate (9), phosphorylation of microtubule-associated protein (MAP) (9), and early response gene expression in osteoblasts (10). The objectives of most of the studies have been mainly to elucidate the effects of microgravity on human bodies in space, especially in the International Space Station, currently under construction.…”

Physical and chemical methods for enhancing rapid detection of viruses and other agents

“…Similarly, protein synthesis was normal after 80 min of centrifugation at 50,000 x g. Tschopp and Cogoli (300) subjected five different cells (HeLa cells, chicken embryo fibroblasts, rat sarcoma cells, Friend leukemia virus-transformed cells, and human lymphocytes) to centrifugation at 10 to 40 x g for up to 4 days and found that cell proliferation was enhanced. Of the five cells studied, only lymphocytes did not survive a 3-day exposure to centrifugation greater than 20 x g. The increase in cell proliferation was due to the g effect and not to an increase in hydrostatic pressure generated by centrifugation.…”