Integrative transcriptomics identifies an 18-gene candidate blood-accessible biomarker panel for longitudinal monitoring of spaceflight-induced muscle atrophy

Jae Ho Shim, Ji Yeon Lee, Jihye Han and Hyeon Soo Kim

PLOS ONE, 2026, vol. 21, issue 10, 1-19

Abstract: Skeletal muscle atrophy is a critical physiological risk during long-duration spaceflight, yet candidate blood-accessible transcriptomic biomarkers for longitudinal monitoring remain unavailable. We developed an integrative multi-mission framework combining a primary discovery transcriptome from THP-1 monocytic cells exposed to International Space Station (ISS) microgravity (GEO: Sci. Adv. 2026 (https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adw7832, Data S1-S10); NASA OSDR: Al-Ahmadi et al. 2026; n = 8 spaceflight, 8 ground control) — yielding 4,522 spaceflight-differentially expressed genes (SDEGs) — with a PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis of 46 verified spaceflight studies, producing a 726-gene consensus set. Cross-referencing these datasets identified 103 intersection genes; application of our Integrated Concordance Score (ICS) nominated an 18-gene candidate biomarker panel nominated across six external missions. Orthogonal cross-tissue concordance analysis using six C2C12 myotube simulated-microgravity datasets demonstrated Pearson r = 0.79 (95% CI 0.52–0.92, p

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0358130

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0358130

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