RR-23: Mouse Adrenal Gland Transcriptional Profiles After 38 Days in Space

Thirty male C57BL/6J mice were flown to the International Space Station for 38 days to study the effects of microgravity. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration collected RNA sequencing data from adrenal glands of these flight mice and two ground control groups in January 2021. This dataset features 10 samples each from the Flight, Habitat Ground Control, and Vivarium Ground Control groups.

Use Cases

• Identify differentially expressed genes in adrenal glands due to spaceflight based on the RNA-seq data.
• Compare stress response pathways between flight and ground control groups based on the described experimental design.
• Analyze the impact of 38 days of microgravity on endocrine tissue transcription based on the mission duration and target tissue.
• Validate findings from the RR-23 mission's primary ocular research by examining correlated adrenal responses.

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled NASA mission with 20 mice per group (Flight, HGC, VGC).
• Experimental design includes two distinct ground control groups for comparison.
• RNA was sequenced to a target depth of 60 million clusters per sample with 150bp paired-end reads.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from a single rodent species and sex (male C57BL/6J), limiting generalizability.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

RNA sequencing of adrenal glands collected from mice after a 38-day spaceflight mission (RR-23) and ground controls.

Time Range

Tissue collection occurred in January 2021.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 19:49:11.135103; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mice were flown on the ISS, returned to Earth, and processed at Texas A&M University.