Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

Effects of low-dose oxygen ions and protons on cardiac function and structure in male C57BL/6J mice (echocardiogram/ultrasonography)

Metadata Updated: September 4, 2025

Purpose: Astronauts traveling beyond low Earth orbit will be exposed to high linear energy transfer charged particles. Because there is concern about the adverse effects of space radiation on the cardiovascular system, this study assessed cardiac function and structure and immune cell infiltration in a mouse model of charged particle irradiation. Materials and methods: Male C57BL/6 J mice were exposed to oxygen ions (16O, 600 MeV/n at 0.25 to 0.26 Gy/min to a total dose of 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, or 1 Gy), protons (150 MeV, 0.35 to 0.55 Gy/min to 0, 0.5, or 1 Gy), or protons (150 MeV, 0.5 Gy) followed by 16O (600 MeV/n, 0.1 Gy). Separate groups of mice received 137Cs γ rays (1 Gy/min to 0, 0.5, 1, or 3 Gy) as a reference. Cardiac function and blood velocity were measured with ultrasonography at 3, 5, 7, and 9 months after irradiation. At 2 weeks, 3 months, and 9 months, cardiac tissue was collected to assess apoptosis, tissue remodeling, and markers of immune cells. Results: Ejection fraction and fractional shortening decreased at 3 and 7 months after 16O. These parameters did not change in mice exposed to γ rays, protons, or protons followed by 16O. Each of the radiation exposures caused only small increases in cleaved caspase3 and numbers of apoptotic nuclei. Changes in the levels of α smooth muscle cell actin and a 75kDa peptide of collagen type III in the left ventricle suggested tissue remodeling, but there was no significant change in total collagen deposition at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 9 months. Increases in protein amounts of cluster of differentiation (CD)2, CD68, and CD45 as measured with immunoblots at 2 weeks, 3 months, and 9 months after exposure to protons or 16O alone suggested immune cell infiltration. For type III collagen, CD2 and CD68, the efficacy in inducing protein abundance of CD2, CD68, and CD45 was 16O greater than protons was greater than γ rays greater than protons followed by 16O. Conclusions: Low dose, high energy charged particle irradiation caused mild changes in cardiac function and tissue remodeling in the mouse. This dataset derives result from the cardiac ultrasound and abdominal aorta doppler (echocardiography) assays.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 4, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 4, 2025
Publisher Open Science Data Repository
Maintainer
Identifier 10.26030/dc1p-q547
Data Last Modified 2025-08-21
Category Biological and Physical Sciences
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 1c274a27-626b-47f1-a186-0b7a4d1fe9fb
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 1c60820c043a1af00805346a5e5100a5bbe77cfba7da5a18fb44d6506fac9e83
Source Schema Version 1.1

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.