title: Invited review article: Advanced light microscopy for biological space research.
abstract: As commercial space flights have become feasible and long-term extraterrestrial missions are planned, it is imperative that the impact of space travel and the space environment on human physiology be thoroughly characterized. Scrutinizing the effects of potentially detrimental factors such as ionizing radiation and microgravity at the cellular and tissue level demands adequate visualization technology. Advanced light microscopy (ALM) is the leading tool for non-destructive structural and functional investigation of static as well as dynamic biological systems. In recent years, technological developments and advances in photochemistry and genetic engineering have boosted all aspects of resolution, readout and throughput, rendering ALM ideally suited for biological space research. While various microscopy-based studies have addressed cellular response to space-related environmental stressors, biological endpoints have typically been determined only after the mission, leaving an experimental gap that is prone to bias results. An on-board, real-time microscopical monitoring device can bridge this gap. Breadboards and even fully operational microscope setups have been conceived, but they need to be rendered more compact and versatile. Most importantly, they must allow addressing the impact of gravity, or the lack thereof, on physiologically relevant biological systems in space and in ground-based simulations. In order to delineate the essential functionalities for such a system, we have reviewed the pending questions in space science, the relevant biological model systems, and the state-of-the art in ALM. Based on a rigorous trade-off, in which we recognize the relevance of multi-cellular systems and the cellular microenvironment, we propose a compact, but flexible concept for space-related cell biological research that is based on light sheet microscopy.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Cell Biology and Histology, Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Winnok H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: De Vos
authors.affiliation: Lambda-X, Nivelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beghuin
authors.affiliation: European Space Agency (ESA), ESTEC, TEC-MMG, Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Christian J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.affiliation: Institute for Experimental Orthopaedics and Biomechanics, Philipps University, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, VU University Medical Center and Department of Oral Cell Biology, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jack J W A
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: van Loon
authors.affiliation: Physical Biology, BMLS (FB15, IZN), Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Juergen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bereiter-Hahn
authors.affiliation: Physical Biology, BMLS (FB15, IZN), Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Ernst H K
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Stelzer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001695:Biology / Q000379:methods*; D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D057054:Molecular Imaging; D012106:Research