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Research and Development of Cell Culture Devices Aboard the Chinese Space Station

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Abstract

Unprecedented experimental conditions were provided for research in space biology following the completion of the Chinese Space Station. The next decade is predicted to witness considerable developments in this subject. Space cell culture is a crucial experimental technique in space biology. The Cell Tissue Culture Experiment Module (CTCEM) aboard the space station's Biotechnology Experiment Rack is customized equipment designed for the microgravity environment in space. It provides suitable culture conditions for cell growth, including temperature and CO2 concentration control, automatic liquid exchange, and automated observation via visible light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and laser confocal microscopy. The Tianzhou-5 Launch Cell Life Support Module (LCLSM) was developed to meet the requirements for transporting samples for space station cell experiments. This device can provide the required temperature, CO2 concentration, and nutrient solution replacement for cell experiment sample transportation. It also stores cells during ground transportation, launches, and in-orbit flights to ensure that they arrive at a space station with good physiological conditions. This article describes space cell bioreactors, the detailed functions and usage methods of CTCEM and LCLSM, and discusses the entire process of transporting cells to the space station and conducting space cell culture experiments through the TZ5 mission.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Professor Jianfu Zhao for his recommendation and suggestions for revising the paper. We would like to acknowledge the following for helpful work: Dong Dong, Xiaojun Yan, Wenting Gao, Junjun Wang, regarding the design and testing.

Funding

This project is supported by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS (2019245), the China Manned Space Engineering Program (Y5X09021N0), the Space Application Project (YYWT-0901-EXP-06), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2103300), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32070814 to M.W), and the Qizhen Grant of Zhejiang University (226-2022-00132 to M.W).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200083, China

    Fangwu Liu, Weibo Zheng, Yongchun Yuan, Qing Tian, Ping Fan & Tao Zhang

  2. College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Shali Wu, Mengrui Wu, Luyang Yu & Jinfu Wang

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  1. Fangwu Liu
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I declare that all authors are individually mentioned with their full names.

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Correspondence to Tao Zhang, Luyang Yu or Jinfu Wang.

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Liu, F., Wu, S., Zheng, W. et al. Research and Development of Cell Culture Devices Aboard the Chinese Space Station. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 36, 1 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-023-10081-w

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