Current research investigations focus on the role that gravity has on cellular and viral functions. Gravity is an important universal force that effects all matter in the cosmos.
Gravity also is a significant experimental variable that has largely been ignored.
Therefore, certain non-adherent cellular functions may best be examined under microgravity conditions. We are exploring how simulated microgravity effects viral latency, cellular differentiation, gene expression and signal transduction pathways. We have discovered that cells activated to release latent virus are killed when grown in microgravity. This programmed cell death in microgravity is hypothesized to occur in vivo for latently infected cells. In addition, cellular differentiation and protein kinase signaling pathways are altered in cells cultured in microgravity when compared to 1 Xg control cultures.