Teratogenic effects of gravitational changes.
In investigating the effect of gravitational changes on development, it is instructive to think of altered gravity (delta g) as a teratogen--that is, an environmental factor influencing development.  Observed effects on skeletal development include:  suppression of morphogenesis in centrifuged mouse limb buds; advanced fusion stages in centrifuged mouse palates; smaller crown rump lengths (CRL) and decreased number of pregnancies in centrifuged rats and mice; altered differentiation of growth plates in young growing rats in space; and decreased length of calcified long bone regions in fetal rats exposed to microgravity in utero.  These studies show that delta g is able to alter development in vivo and in vitro and suggest that delta g operates, at least in part, at the cellular level.
Duke
P J
PJ
University of Texas-Houston, Department of Orthodontics 77225, USA.
Montufar-Solis
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D
Daane
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E
D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002498:Centrifugation; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005121:Extremities / Q000196:embryology*; D005260:Female; D006112:Gravitation; D018470:Gravity, Altered / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006132:Growth Plate / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D018471:Hypergravity; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D010159:Palate / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D012399:Rotation; D013026:Space Flight; D018600:Teratology; D014893:Weightlessness; D018474:Weightlessness Simulation