Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) identifies and quantifies thousands of proteins circulating in plasma. Also includes extracellular vesicle (EV) proteomics — proteins packaged in tiny membrane bubbles that cells use for long-distance communication.
Reading this chart
Y-axis shows relative protein abundance vs pre-flight. The steady climb to 2.6x by flight day 3 shows antioxidant proteins ramping up to fight radiation damage. The slow decline post-flight means the body gradually stopped needing extra protection.
Proteins are the functional workforce of cells. While genes tell you what COULD happen, proteins tell you what IS happening. Elevated antioxidant proteins (SOD, catalase, glutathione peroxidase) mean the body is actively fighting radiation-induced oxidative damage.
Relative abundance values from mass spec. Fold-change comparisons between timepoints. Group proteins by function (antioxidant, inflammatory, structural) and compute pathway-level scores.
All AP-level math. No differential equations, no ML required. With n=4, descriptive statistics are more honest than hypothesis testing.
Antioxidant pathway proteins significantly upregulated in-flight
Complement system activation (innate immunity)
EV cargo showed distinct spaceflight signatures
Coordinated with metabolomics — unified stress response
Core data for the Oxidative Stress domain. Map antioxidant/pro-oxidant protein ratios over time. Also feeds into the Immune Regulation score via complement system and immunoglobulin levels.