title: Effects of simulated weightlessness on liver Hsp70 and Hsp70mRNA expression in rats.
abstract: Space flight is known to induce a number of hepatic physiological alterations. In this study, we investigated Hsp70 expressing features of rat liver under simulated weightlessness. Tail-suspension was used to simulate the weightlessness animal model. Forty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to 6 experimental groups and Hsp70 protein and mRNA expressions in the liver were detected by Western blot and RT-PCR respectively. The tail-suspension significantly increased Hsp70mRNA expression levels in rat liver (P<0.05). The semi-quantitative PCR showed that Hsp70mRNA was upregulated as early as 6 hours of suspension. Western blot analysis indicated that Hsp70 protein was significantly upregulated in the early stage of suspension as compared with controls (P<0.05). The results suggest that simulated weightlessness acts as a kind of stress to elevate liver Hsp70 expression both at protein and mRNA levels. This may be meaningful in astronaut's trainings by preadaptation to non-damaging stress exposures or other environmental factors to foster the astronaut's ability of weightless tolerance.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Jinlian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Chenglin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zipei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Jianzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang