Proteome Profiling of the Exhaled Breath Condensate after Long-Term Spaceflights

Abstract

Comprehensive studies of the effects of prolonged exposure to space conditions and the overload experienced during landing on physiological and biochemical changes in the human body are extremely important in the context of planning long-distance space flights, which can be associated with constant overloads and various risk factors for significant physiological changes. Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) can be considered as a valuable subject for monitoring physiological changes and is more suitable for long-term storage than traditional monitoring subjects such as blood and urine. Herein, the EBC proteome changes due to the effects of spaceflight factors are analyzed. Thirteen EBC samples were collected from five Russian cosmonauts (i) one month before flight (background), (ii) immediately upon landing modules in the field (R0) after 169–199 days spaceflights, and (iii) on the seventh day after landing (R+7). Semi-quantitative label-free EBC proteomic analysis resulted in 164 proteins, the highest number of which was detected in EBC after landing (R0). Pathways enrichment analysis using the GO database reveals a large group of proteins which take part in keratinization processes (CASP14, DSG1, DSP, JUP, and so on). Nine proteins (including KRT2, KRT9, KRT1, KRT10, KRT14, DCD, KRT6C, KRT6A, and KRT5) were detected in all three groups. A two-sample Welch’s t-test identified a significant change in KRT2 and KRT9 levels after landing. Enrichment analysis using the KEGG database revealed the significant participation of detected proteins in pathogenic E. coli infection (ACTG1, TUBA1C, TUBA4A, TUBB, TUBB8, and YWHAZ), which may indicate microbiota changes associated with being in space. This assumption is confirmed by microbial composition analysis. In general, the results suggest that EBC can be used for noninvasive monitoring of health status and respiratory tract pathologies during spaceflights, and that the obtained data are important for the development of medicine for use in extreme situations. Data are available from ProteomeXchange using the identifier PXD014191.

Proteome of exhaled breath condensate on exposure to high-temperature thermoheliox

“…13 Determination of the protein content of the EBC was carried out for Russian cosmonauts who work on board the International Space Station before and after the fl ight. 14 Studying of the eff ect of thermoheliox on the protein composition of EBC gave the following results.…”

Routine omics collection is a golden opportunity for European human research in space and analog environments

“… 102 Moreover, for certain omic types, such as proteomics, exhaled breath condensate may be better suited for rapid analysis versus other forms of liquid biopsy, such as blood and urine. 104 Nevertheless, omic studies of astronaut breath remain very much in their infancy. In one of the only studies to date, 104 proteomic analysis of exhaled breath condensate obtained from cosmonauts before and after long-term spaceflight revealed strong enrichment for proteins involved in keratinization and pathogenic E. coli infection, offering support to the potential utility of breath analysis for non-invasive monitoring of astronaut health and respiratory tract pathology.…”

“… 104 Nevertheless, omic studies of astronaut breath remain very much in their infancy. In one of the only studies to date, 104 proteomic analysis of exhaled breath condensate obtained from cosmonauts before and after long-term spaceflight revealed strong enrichment for proteins involved in keratinization and pathogenic E. coli infection, offering support to the potential utility of breath analysis for non-invasive monitoring of astronaut health and respiratory tract pathology. 104 On Earth, metabolomic study of human exhaled air (“breathomics”) has also proven to be highly feasible and consequently gained great traction, 105 though transcriptomic studies are currently lacking, perhaps owing to poor knowledge of present mRNAs due to high fragmentation of RNA isolated from exhaled breath condensate.…”

Short Time-Series Expression Transcriptome Data Reveal the Gene Expression Patterns of Dairy Cow Mammary Gland as Milk Yield Decreased Process

“…A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network in each significant profile was computed using the String v11.0 database [ 34 ]. Subsequently, the PPI network was visualized in Cytoscape v3.7.2 to further understand and predict the biological activity of the DEGs [ 35 ].…”