RR-23 Mission: Mouse Soleus Muscle Transcriptional Profiling Under Microgravity

Transcriptional profiling data from the soleus muscles of 27 mice involved in the Rodent Research-23 (RR-23) spaceflight mission. The dataset includes 9 samples each from mice exposed to 38 days of microgravity on the International Space Station, habitat ground controls, and vivarium ground controls. RNA was extracted from muscle samples collected in January 2021 and sequenced by NASA.

Use Cases

• Identify gene expression changes in muscle tissue due to microgravity based on transcriptional profiles.
• Compare molecular adaptations between spaceflight, habitat control, and vivarium control groups.
• Investigate potential biomarkers for muscle atrophy or adaptation in space environments.
• Validate ground-based models of spaceflight physiology using flight-derived transcriptomic data.

Strengths

• Includes three distinct experimental groups (Flight, Habitat Ground Control, Vivarium Ground Control) for controlled comparison.
• Samples were collected from a defined mission (RR-23) with a 38-day microgravity exposure period.
• RNA sequencing targeted 60 million clusters per sample, suggesting a standardized depth.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect temporal and source bias inherent to a single, specific spaceflight mission.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

RNA extracted from mouse soleus muscle after spaceflight, followed by library generation and sequencing.

Time Range

Samples collected in January 2021.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 20:07:39.826427; freshness should be verified.

Geography

International Space Station and terrestrial control sites (Kennedy Space Center, Texas A&M University).