Aging In Space: The Final Frontier Of Brain Star Shaped Cells - Establishing a platform to screen for drugs to reduce aging process in astrocytes to fight incurable age-related brain diseases

Astrocytes, star shaped cells, play an essential role in brain activity. Impairment with their functions, that can appear with aging, may lead to different brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Recent evidences suggested that astronauts exhibit accelerate aging of cells such as skin epithelial cells, following short stay in space. Here we aim to assess the effect of space on accelerate aging in human astrocytes. The results of this set of experiments may suggest a new avenue of treatment for both long stays in space and a platform to assess different treatments for brain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s diseases.