ALBERT

Description: Contributing to NASA s mission, the Microgravity Fluid Physics research program conducts experiments to promote space exploration and improvement of processes and products on Earth. One of the projects through this program deals with the affect of regulators on vascular remodeling and angiogenesis. This project is being led by Dr. Patricia Parsons-Wingerter. To perform the experiments, protein regulators are tested on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of the Japanese quail embryos. The different types of regulators used can be broken down into two major groups of stimulators, and inhibitors. Stimulators increase the rate of blood vessel growth and inhibitors decrease of blood vessel growth. The specified regulator proteins include thrombospondin 1 (TSP-1) and a novel vessel tortuosity factor (TF), these are just the ones used in this specific experiment; other various protein regulators can also be used. The novel vessel tortuosity factor (TF) is a special kind of stimulator because it stimulates vessel tortuosity and curvature, rather than actual blood vessel growth. These regulators are being tested on Japanese quail embryos. The Japanese quail embryos naturally form a chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) from which blood flow, vascular remodeling, and angiogenesis can be observed. Chorioallantoic membranes are also easier to use because they are two dimensional when mounted onto a slide for examination. The analysis of the affect of the regulators on the CAM can be studied through PIVPROC; the program is used to analyze the altered blood flow in response to application of TF. Regulators are being thoroughly studied because cardiovascular alterations are the second highest, NASA-defined, risk categories in human space exploration. This research done on the quail is extending to even more projects that will be done on lab animals such as mice and also in human clinical studies like the diabetic retina. Not only will this research be beneficial to further space exploration, but it will also help life here on Earth. The higher understanding of the formation of blood vessels can also help further research in health problems such as diabetes and heart disease.