Effect of space conditions on neuronal plasticity and connectivity

Looking for opportunities to explore new frontiers and developing new technologies have always been in the nature of mankind. In 1957, the first rocket in space opened a new era for space traveling towards other planets. Concomitantly, a wide range of concerns related to human health risks that could occur during spaceflight was raised. Up to now, a large number of experiments has been performed to determine the biological effects of space conditions on human health, in order to develop appropriate countermeasures. However, extensive investigations still need to be performed before considering long-term spaceflight towards other planets such as Mars. Since the first human space flight, it has been observed that in weightlessness conditions, equilibrium sense organs can send misleading inputs to the central nervous system which is forced to develop new strategies and adapt to adequately translate these messages. Furthermore, cosmic radiations are known to induce oxidative stress as well as genomic damages. In this thesis, we studied concomitant microgravity and radiation exposures as models for space conditions and developed various methods to analyse their specific and combined effects on in vitro neuronal network models. In vitro primary neuronal network cultures were established and exposed to simulated space conditions to investigate neuronal network remodelling (plasticity and connectivity) as well as genomic damage/repair dynamics. This work was performed to address questions on neuronal network disorders occurring during spaceflights and, in the future, to develop strategies against these effects.

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