{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T21:12:02Z","timestamp":1790284322041,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]],"date-time":"2024-09-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1727395200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"UPO FAR2017_Sabbatini"},{"name":"UPO FAR2017_Masini"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["CIMB"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The present work shows that the exposure of mesothelial cells to simulated microgravity changes their cytoskeleton and adhesion proteins, leading to a cell switch from normal towards tumoral cells. Immunohistochemical and molecular data were obtained from both MeT-5A exposed to simulated microgravity and BR95 mesothelioma cell lines. Simulated microgravity was found to affect the expression of actin, vinculin, and connexin-43, altering their quantitative and spatial distribution pattern inside the cell. The analysis of the tumoral markers p27, CD44, Fibulin-3, and NANOG and the expression of genes related to cancer transformation such as NANOG, CDH-1, and Zeb-1 showed that the simulated microgravity environment led to expression patterns in MeT-5A cells similar to those observed in BR95 cells. The alteration in both quantitative expression and structural organization of the cytoskeleton and adhesion\/communication proteins can thus be considered a pivotal mechanism involved in the cellular shift towards tumoral progression.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cimb46100647","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]],"date-time":"2024-09-27T11:19:33Z","timestamp":1727435973000},"page":"10896-10912","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Microgravity as a Tool to Investigate Cancer Induction in Pleura Mesothelial Cells"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"46","author":[{"given":"Valentina","family":"Bonetto","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Innovation Technology (DISIT), Universit\u00e0 del Piemonte Orientale, 15121 Alessandria, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Corinna Anais","family":"Pagano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Innovation Technology (DISIT), Universit\u00e0 del Piemonte Orientale, 15121 Alessandria, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5263-3980","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maurizio","family":"Sabbatini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Innovation Technology (DISIT), Universit\u00e0 del Piemonte Orientale, 15121 Alessandria, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0247-9372","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Valeria","family":"Magnelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Innovation Technology (DISIT), Universit\u00e0 del Piemonte Orientale, 15121 Alessandria, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9224-9230","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Massimo","family":"Donadelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences (DNBM), University of Verona, 37124 Verona, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9395-7375","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emilio","family":"Marengo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Innovation Technology (DISIT), Universit\u00e0 del Piemonte Orientale, 15121 Alessandria, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Angela","family":"Masini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Science and Innovation Technology (DISIT), Universit\u00e0 del Piemonte Orientale, 15121 Alessandria, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"374","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ccell.2023.02.016","article-title":"The evolving tumor microenvironment: From cancer initiation to metastatic outgrowth","volume":"41","author":"Joyce","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cancer Cell"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5507","DOI":"10.1111\/bph.12704","article-title":"Movers and shakers: Cell cytoskeleton in cancer metastasis","volume":"171","author":"Fife","year":"2014","journal-title":"Br. 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