Kennedy Space Center (LabNews Media LLC) – Organoids grown in space from glioblastoma cells and cells of the innate immune system more accurately replicate the structure and behavior of glioblastoma tumors than organoids grown on Earth. This was reported by the US National Laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS); the results were published in "PNAS" (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2616218123). The team from the University of Notre Dame, led by Meenal Datta, grew the organoids on the ISS for 40 days in 2024 with support from the commercial service provider Space Tango and then returned them for analysis.
Glioblastoma is the most common malignant primary brain tumor in adults and one of the most aggressive and deadly cancers. Surgeons struggle to remove it completely because it often spreads microscopically into healthy brain tissue. Furthermore, the tumor creates an immunosuppressive microenvironment that helps it evade the immune system and resist therapies. Precise modeling in the laboratory has proven challenging: even sophisticated organoids do not fully reproduce key features of advanced glioblastomas because gravity, when cultivated on Earth, causes cells to settle and complicates the formation of complex three-dimensional structures.
In microgravity, cells with less sedimentation disturbance can assemble into three-dimensional structures, allowing for a better replication of tumor architecture and cellular interactions. The researchers found that in the space-grown organoids, genes related to inflammation, immune responses, tissue remodeling, and blood vessel formation were more active, and levels of proteins associated with more aggressive glioblastoma biology were higher. They also revealed a more immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment—a hallmark of advanced glioblastomas that helps tumors resist the immune system. According to Datta, the study also provided the first comprehensive multiomics dataset from space-grown organoids, offering insights into gene activity, protein expression, and the interaction and organization of cells within the tissue.
“By growing GBM organoids on the ISS, we have shown that microgravity promotes a model phenotype that replicates human tumors better and faster than we can achieve on the ground. This work lays the foundation for a new era of orbital oncology, taking cancer research from the bedside to orbit and back,” said Datta, Jane Schoelch DeFlorio Collegiate Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. Building on these findings, her team has launched two more ISS trials with patient-derived GBM immune organoids; the most recent flew on the SpaceX CRS-35 mission for NASA. By providing models that more fully capture the complex architecture and biology of advanced tumors, space-grown organoids could help better understand glioblastoma progression and accelerate the development of new therapies for patients on Earth. “Dr. Datta and her team have brought their expertise on one of the most aggressive and incurable brain cancers into space, demonstrating that microgravity can enhance organoid models that function as ‘mini-tumors,’” said Michael Roberts, Chief Scientist of the ISS National Lab. The research is part of a growing number of cancer projects supported by the ISS National Lab.
