Remote-Controlled Miniaturized Lab Platforms for Microgravity...

Remote-Controlled Miniaturized Lab Platforms for Microgravity Research

Shimon Amselem, Ph.D., CSO

www.space4p.com

http://www.space4p.com/

About the Company & Team

• SpacePharma R & D Israel Ltd is the subsidiary of the Swiss company SpacePharma SA which was established in April 2012

• SpacePharma was founded by former Heads of the Israeli Satellite and Intelligence Units

• Unique multidisciplinary team of of experienced and passionate space and science experts ,18 employees, many of whom are former satellite developers and operators, including 5 PhDs and 5 engineers

• Recognized recently top world list of 55 Game-Changers by CB Insights (https://www.cbinsights.com/research-game-changing-startups?utm_source=outreach&utm_medium=email&utm_term=octev&utm_campaign=game-changers)

• Selected by Geektime.com 1st among 10 space companies to watch in 2016 & 2017 (http://www.geektime.com/2016/01/06/beyond-spacex-10-space-companies-to-watch-in-2016-2017/)

• DIDO-1 - SpacePharma 1st ever commercial Nano-satellite for microgravity research, on-board a Space X Falcon-9 (launch window opens Mar 1, 2016) . This satellite already serves paying customers

• DIDO-2 – SpacePharma 2nd , commercial Nano-satellite for microgravity research is now open for clients! on board Dnepr launch vehicle from Yasny (Russia)

2/21/2016 All rights are reserved by SpacePharma © 2

In 3U Satellite

http://www.geektime.com/2016/01/06/beyond-spacex-10-space-companies-to-watch-in-2016-2017/

Chemical Research in Space and under Microgravity Conditions

• Chemical research is frequently hampered by effects associated with the force of gravity

• Free of the masking effects of gravity-induced convection, sedimentation, shear forces, hydrostatic pressure, etc., microgravity provides a very valuable research tool for scientists to study biochemical and physical processes

• In a weightlessness environment, the absence of gravity-dependent phenomena allows researchers to investigate chemical interactions and events that are normally obscured by gravity and which are therefore difficult or impossible to study quantitatively on Earth


Microgravity Research Fields

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Microgravity Research

Bone Physiology

Protein & API Crystallization

Stem Cells

Cancer Research

Tissue Engineering

Microbiology

Gene Expression

Micro encapsulation& Drug Delivery

Nanoparticle Self

Assemblies

Cell Physiology

Colloidal Chemistry

Solidification

Reaction kinetics

Plant Biology

BioMed & BioTech Pharma & Chemistry

Applications of microgravity as a research tool in medicinal chemistry

• The number of applications of microgravity as a research tool is expected to increase dramatically, since the pharmaceutical industry is a major participant in the frame of the commercialization of space

• As the µG environment becomes important in the fields of: • protein crystallography• drug polymorphism• bacterial drug resistance• gene expression • stem cells

and the associated drug discovery process,

• µG research is becoming attractive both for academic researchers and for pharmaceutical companies who are involved in structure-based drug design


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Big Pharma companies currently involved in Microgravity Research

A specific strain of mice, developed at the Novartis Institutes for

BioMedical Research (NIBR), will be sent to the International

Space Station (ISS) on September 20. The mice will live in

microgravity during their mission, allowing scientists to learn

more about muscle development and muscle atrophy.

Sep 17, 2014

Colloidal Chemistry & Microgravity

• The formation of colloidal crystals is strongly affected by sedimentation

• Crystallization studies benefit from being done in µG because material does not settle out of suspension (undisturbed nucleation and growth)

• Previous work on the ISS has shown that molecules which are not able to crystallize on Earth can crystallize in µG conditions

• Proteins crystallize in the absence of gravity much better than on Earth —almost defect free— allowing scientists and eventually pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs and targeted treatments that work more effectively and have fewer side effects

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Space vs Ground-grown Human Insulin Crystals

McPherson & DeLucas, nature partner journals microgravity, 2015

Differential Gene Expression in Microgravity

• In the absence of gravity, certain genes in cells turn off and others turn on. Studying these changes will allow scientists to develop a better understanding on how cells function and how to manipulate them in labs on Earth

• Out of 10,000 genes evaluated, 1632 genes were altered in µG

• Genetic expression of cytokines (interleukins, interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor) in human cells is changed during spaceflight

• Expression of proto-onco-genes, c-fos and c-jun, in human epidermoid A431 cells flown on sounding rockets are altered

• mRNA levels for cytoskeleton, growth, transcription factors, tumor suppressors, heat shock protein, cell cycle control in human T lymphocyte leukemia cell line (Jurkat) cells are changed

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Bacterial Virulence In Microgravity

• In microgravity bacterial virulence increases

• Experiments executed across a number of bacterial species reported a reduced lag phase, increased growth rate and increased final cell population densities under microgravity conditions

• In µG, bacteria were shown to become more resistant to common antibiotics and presented enhanced biofilm formation

• Discovering the factors responsible for growth and virulence of bacteria is very important

• Thus, microgravity has the potential to lead to the identification of novel regulation of genes, providing novel potential targets for vaccine and development of new antibiotic drugs

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Drug Development in Microgravity Research Conducted Aboard Atlantis' Last Mission

• Space Shuttle Atlantis returned from the International Space Station (ISS), landing at the Kennedy Space Center (Houston, TX, USA) May 26, 2010, with the 10th scientific payload for Astrogenetix (Austin, TX, USA) conducting drug development research

• Astrogenetix (Austin, TX, USA), is conducting research on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as part of the ISS [U.S.] National Laboratory Pathfinder Vaccine (NLP-V) missions

• Astrogenetix is utilizing the unique conditions of microgravity to reveal changes in bacteria, which can be targeted to create new vaccines and therapeutics.

• Astrogenetix has identified target genes for MRSA virulence by growing the bacteria in the microgravity environment during previous NLP-V

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Image: Colored scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterium (Photo courtesy of AMI Images).

Access to Microgravity Research today is limited to International Space Station (ISS)


Control over experiment out of your hands

Limited space agencies,

long wait times (years)

Veryexpensive

IP ownershipissues

BARRIER BARRIER BARRIER BARRIER

SpacePharma’s Solution – µGnify

• Affordable, Accessible, User-friendly µG solution:


Build Research Procedure

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Customize Lab for Research Needs

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Place Lab in Microgravity Platform

3

Control Microgravity Experiment and Get Results

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SpacePharma Ground-Space Microgravity Platform

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The results, including environmental readings, are received at SpacePharma’s

ground station

• Miniaturized laboratory

• Easily customized per research needs

• Fits inside multiple microgravity platforms

• Controlled by customers from anywhere

• Flexible usage model

• Secured data protection

SpacePharma’s Technology


• Based on research needs, can start with on-ground testing (1g or simulators) and move lab to parabolic flights or satellites in space.

Ground Simulator

Parabolic Flight

Nano Satellites

Status

Ground Simulator

Parabolic Flight

DIDO-I

• Ground station : April 2016

• IUT frequencies : May 2016

• First satellite launch: May 2016

• First parabolic flight: August 2016

• 2nd satellite launch: August 2016

21 February 2016

SpacePharma’s First Satellite – DIDO1

• Upcoming launch:

• SPmgLab• Bacterial growth, Antibiotics

resistance, Self-assembly, Enzymatic reactions, Polymerization, Nanoparticle synthesis, Particle aggregation dynamics, Emulsion stability, Crystallization


2U = 20x10x10 cm

Ground Tests, 1g

On SimulatorIn 3U Satellite

SPadLab: Fluid Handling System

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Microfluidics/Lab-on-chip devices allow execution of end-to-end

experiments in fully automated and miniaturized systems.

• Custom design per experiment

• High experimental precision and control (including multiple repetitions)

• On-board result reading

• Sensors and readers can be added from the existing tool-box (microscope, spectrometer, temperature, pressure, etc.)

Inlet

Inlet

Inlet/Flush Liquid

Outlets

Observation Point

• A modular system currently allowing up to6 reservoirs with pumps and 2 wastereservoirs

• Chips are held in place by the SP Chip Holder, allowing for plug and play changing of the devices

• Chips have a variety of capabilities –mixing, droplet creation, cell culture

Lab-on-a-chip – moves the large scale

laboratory onto a small scale chip

Stem Cells in Microgravity

• In both space-based and simulated-microgravity experiments, various types of stem cells and progenitor cells have shown distinct responses.

• Some types of cells show increased proliferation and viability. Others show enhanced differentiation

• Microgravity research has the potential to advance stem cell therapies by identifying novel cell properties and pharmaceutical targets

• Stem cells research in microgravity is part of SpacePharma scientific pipeline


Remote-Controlled Miniaturized Lab Platforms for Microgravity...

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