Simulated microgravity induces aging phenotypes in human organoids

Mu, W.-C.; Baechle, J.; Schneider, K.; Fuentealba, M.; Wu, F.; Manwaring-Mueller, M.; Bracey, N.; Chebykin, A.; Saini, A.; Park, J.; Kim, J.; Winer, D. A.; Gale, A. I.; Mason, C.; Davis, M. M.; Furman, D.

doi:10.64898/2026.09.30.755771

bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.09.30.755771

Simulated microgravity induces aging phenotypes in human organoids

Mu, W.-C.·Baechle, J.·Schneider, K.·Fuentealba, M.·Wu, F.·Manwaring-Mueller, M.·Bracey, N.·Chebykin, A.·Saini, A.·Park, J.·Kim, J.·Winer, D. A.·Gale, A. I.·Mason, C.·Davis, M. M.·Furman, D.

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Abstract

Simulated microgravity provides a controlled perturbation for testing how loss of mechanical load affects human tissues. After 24 hours in rotating-wall vessels, neural, cardiac and tonsil organoids developed tissue-specific transcriptional responses that overlapped published spaceflight datasets, accompanied by higher transcriptomic-age estimates in neural and cardiac models, altered cardiac-organoid contraction dynamics and modified tonsil-organoid antiviral gene-expression signatures. These findings establish a multi-organoid framework for studying acute responses to gravitational unloading.

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Mu, W.-C., Baechle, J., Schneider, K., Fuentealba, M., Wu, F., Manwaring-Mueller, M., Bracey, N., Chebykin, A., Saini, A., Park, J., Kim, J., Winer, D. A., Gale, A. I., Mason, C., Davis, M. M., Furman, D.. 2026-10-01. Simulated microgravity induces aging phenotypes in human organoids. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.30.755771

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