RRRM-2: Bulk and Single Nuclei Sequencing of Mouse Brain Tissue from Spaceflight

160 female C57BL/6NTac mice were flown on the International Space Station for the Rodent Research Reference Mission-2. This dataset includes bulk RNA sequencing and single nuclei transcriptomics and epigenomics from the left cerebral hemispheres of 18 mice, comparing spaceflight animals to ground controls. The data was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Identify gene expression changes in brain tissue based on spaceflight exposure mentioned in the description
• Compare epigenetic and transcriptional profiles based on animal age groups (12-week-old vs 29-week-old)
• Analyze molecular recovery patterns based on the comparison of on-orbit sacrifice (ISS-T) and live animal return (LAR) groups
• Study the effects of microgravity on neurobiology based on cerebral hemisphere sequencing data

Strengths

• Includes data from a controlled experiment with 160 total mice across multiple control groups
• Combines bulk RNA sequencing with single nuclei transcriptomics and epigenomics for multi-modal analysis
• Directly compares spaceflight effects with ground, basal, and vivarium controls as described

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• The dataset description specifies data from only 18 of the 160 mice, representing a subset

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Experimental data from the Rodent Research Reference Mission-2 (RRRM-2) on the International Space Station.

Time Range

Experimental mission involving 55-58 days on-orbit and 24-day recovery periods.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:59:07.070500; freshness should be verified

Geography

Data originates from spaceflight (International Space Station) and ground control experiments.