Comparative Study on Biological Effects of Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Simulated Microgravity

Microgravity (MG) is the most important characteristic in space flight, which affects the endocrine, metabolic, immune and musculoskeletal systems. Because of the limitations of space experiment, the ground-based experiments are very important to understanding the physiological and pathophysiological changes in space flight. To simulate microgravity on ground there are two methods for adherent cells. One is three-dimensional MG using a rotary cell culture system (RCCS) equipped with high aspect ratio vessels. The other one is two-dimensional MG using cell roller on which cell dish was put. Both can produce altered-vector of gravity that mimics gravity. In this study, the effects of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) MG on cell proliferation and differentiation were determined. The results showed that similar biological effects on cells under both MG models, which are inhibition of cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity in MC3T3-E1 and telomerase activity in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Considering easily control setting and simple manipulation, we prefer 2D simulated microgravity as ground-based model.