Page "Millie Hughes-Fulford" Paragraph 6

She was the Principal Investigator ( PI ) on a series of SpaceHab / Biorack experiments, which examined the regulation of osteoblast ( bone cell ) growth.

These experiments flew on STS-76, in March 1996, STS-81 in January 1997 and STS-84 in May 1997.

These studies examined the root causes of osteoporosis that occurs in astronauts during spaceflight.

She found changes in anabolic signal transduction in microgravity.

Currently, in collaboration with Dr. Augusto Cogoli of Zurich, Switzerland, she is examining changes in T-cell gene induction in spaceflight in a joint NASA / ESA International Space Station experiment that will be going up on the Soyuz TMA-9 in September 2006.

The previous Leukin experiment with Dr. Cogoli was lost on the STS-107 mission.

This study ( Leukin ) examines the mechanism of action causing the decrease in T-cell activation in microgravity, a medical problem that was first found in returning Apollo astronauts.

Isolated T-cells will be activated in spaceflight on Biopack hardware ; the altered activation will be examined by reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction ( RTPCR ) analysis of induced genes.

Further studies of gene regulation and signal transduction in spaceflight were approved in January 2002 for Shuttle / ISS experiments examining protein kinase C ( PKC ) signal activation.