Simulated microgravity raises transcriptomic age in organoids

In a preprint, researchers tested how the loss of mechanical load affects human neural, cardiac, and tonsil organoids. The team maintained the three organoid types in rotating-wall vessels for 24 hours to simulate microgravity. Following this exposure, the organoids developed tissue-specific transcriptional responses that overlapped with published spaceflight datasets. The simulated microgravity was accompanied by higher transcriptomic-age estimates in the neural and cardiac models. It also led to altered contraction dynamics in cardiac organoids and modified antiviral gene-expression signatures in tonsil organoids. According to the authors, these results establish a multi-organoid framework for examining acute tissue responses to gravitational unloading.