RR-3 Mission: Multi-modal Brain Analysis from Mice on the International Space Station

NASA's Rodent Research-3 mission collected brain tissue from 20 female BALB/c mice flown to the ISS for 39-42 days, with matched ground and basal controls. Brain hemispheres were processed to generate spatially resolved transcriptional profiles via 10X Visium arrays and single-nuclei RNA-seq and ATAC-seq data via the 10X Multiome protocol. Bulk RNA-seq was also performed on pooled RNA from brain sections of three flight and three ground control samples.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatially resolved gene expression in the hippocampus based on Visium Spatial Transcriptomics data.
• Study coordinated changes in gene expression and chromatin accessibility based on paired single-nuclei RNA-seq and ATAC-seq data.
• Compare transcriptomic signatures between spaceflight, ground control, and basal control groups mentioned in the experimental design.
• Investigate potential neurobiological adaptations to microgravity based on multi-modal data from brain tissue.

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled spaceflight experiment with matched ground and basal control groups.
• Includes multi-modal data types: spatial transcriptomics, single-nuclei multi-omics, and bulk RNA-seq.
• Experimental protocol details are specified, including the use of 10X Genomics Visium and Multiome platforms.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The description focuses on a subset (control/sham injection group) of a larger mission.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Brain tissue from mice on the RR-3 mission to the ISS was processed using 10X Genomics Visium and Multiome protocols.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:43:13.873035; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Samples originated from mice on the International Space Station and matching ground controls.