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The prospects of interplanetary missions make it relevant to develop standard tests to find criteria for the correction of preventive measures in a long space flight in order to ensure a peak in physical performance by the time the interplanetary activity is completed. Currently, tests are being developed to assess physical performance. One of them can be the currently developed locomotor test with a stepwise increasing load in the active mode of movement of the treadmill. It is of interest to assess the effect of this load on changes in the profile of proteins associated with the cardiovascular system from the standpoint of the possibility of using them as markers of its response to physical activity. In article analyzes the results of an experimental study of the proteome of human urine after a dosed step-increasing load and discusses the possible role of the identified proteins that can be attributed to the functioning of the cardiovascular system. The study involved practically healthy volunteers aged 18.6 ± 0.7 years, weighing 75.7 ± 8 kg (n = 12). The urine proteome was evaluated by chromatography-mass spectrometry and analyzed by bioinformatics methods. For the first time, data on the proteomic response to a locomotor test with a stepwise increasing load in the active mode of web movement in a group homogeneous in autonomic status are presented. As a result of the analysis, 429 proteins were identified, 69 of which significantly changed. Based on bioinformatics analysis, processes related to the work of the heart, vascular tone, and vascular permeability were identified. Ten proteins are described that are associated with the processes of the quick response of the cardiovascular system to dosed physical activity. The obtained results will help in choosing standard criteria for assessing the physiological cost of physical activity.

Study of changes in the proteome of extracellular body fluids under conditions of simulated weightlessness of medium duration (21 days) remains relevant for clarifying the physiological mechanisms of homeostasis regulation and is important for gravitational physiology and medicine. Plasma samples of 8 healthy volunteers participating in head down bed rest (HDBR –6°) experiment were studied using semi-quantitative proteomics methods. Each volunteer participated both in the control session and in the session with physical training for negative changes prevention. By the end of HDBR, significant changes in the concentration of proteins involved in platelet degranulation, blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, proteolysis regulation, complement activation, and the immune response were detected in both sessions. The following changes in biochemical parameters of carbohydrate metabolism and regulation of circulating blood volume were shown: a significant increase in renin concentration and a tendency to an increase in aldosterone; an increase in fasting insulin concentration and a tendency to an increase in the insulin resistance index. Physical training did not have a significant effect on biochemical parameters, except for the representation of cholesterol fractions, un which a significant decrease in the concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol observed in HDBR became statistically insignificant in session with physical training. However, the protein composition in blood plasma of volunteers in the prophylaxis session changed less compared to HDBR. Physical training resulted in increase in the concentration of proteins involved in the normalization of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, such as a macrophage stimulating protein and phosphatidylinositol-glycan-specific phospholipase D, which indicates the effectiveness of preventive measures.

Urine chromatography–mass spectrometry and a heart rate variability (HRV) analysis were performed in 13 healthy males (age 28 ± 4 years, height 174 ± 1 cm, weight 67.9 ± 1.5 kg). Mathematical and bioinformatics analyses identified the proteins that are associated with the condition of the cardiovascular system and the autonomic regulation of the heart rate in the total protein aggregate. The set included serotransferrin, tyrosine-protein kinase receptor UFO, prostatic acid phosphatase, secreted and transmembrane protein 1, cell adhesion molecule 4, galectin-3-binding protein, immunoglobulin heavy constant alpha 1, matrix remodeling-associated protein 8, and biotinidase. Associations were for the first time studied for protein markers of the heart rate autonomic regulation. Proteomics data were used to describe the indicators of the heart rate physiological regulation in the urine proteome of healthy young males.

The study presents the results of evaluating the changes in the concentrations of blood plasma proteins associated with heart rate variability in cosmonauts who have completed space missions lasting about 6 months. The concentrations of 121 proteins were quantified in biological samples of the cosmonauts' blood plasma. The subgroups of proteins associated with the physiological processes of the heart rate variability autonomic regulation were identified using bioinformatic resources (Immunoglobulin heavy constant mu, Complement C1q subcomponent subunit C, Plasma serine protease inhibitor, Protein - 72 kDa type IV collagenase, Fibulin-1, Immunoglobulin lambda constant 3). The concentration of these proteins in the blood plasma before the flight, and the dynamics of concentration changes on the 1st and 7th days of the post-flight rehabilitation period differed in the groups of cosmonauts with a predominance of sympathetic or parasympathetic modulating autonomous influences. The dynamics of changes in the concentrations of the identified set of proteins reveal that in cosmonauts with a predominance of sympathetic modulating influences, the mechanisms of autonomic regulation are exposed to significant stress in the recovery period immediately after the completion of the space mission, compared with the cosmonauts with a predominance of parasympathetic modulating influences.

On the basis of proteomics, modern data on the features of bone remodeling in astronauts after long-term space flights are presented. We describe the regulatory proteins of the blood proteome that are significantly associated with bone remodeling processes. By analyzing large amounts of data, we for the first time determined associations of signaling proteins that are process regulators characterizing new steps of bone remodeling in astronauts during the acute period of readaptation after landing.

In order to find markers to assess the functional state of the cardiovascular system (CVS) before and after spaceflight (first and seventh day after landing), we analyzed the urine proteome composition of 10 Russian cosmonauts aged of 35–51 years who have completed 169–199-day spaceflight onboard the International Space Station (ISS). Also an analysis of urine samples of 6 cosmonaut back-ups was conducted. A special sample preparation was performed, followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. It was shown that after long duration space flight concentration of several proteins of CVS in urine samples varies significantly. The dynamic of presence in urine of thioredoxin and apolipoprotein A-I could be related to the spaceflight, as it were not found before flight and in back-up controls, but were detected after the spaceflight. It was found that changes in cosmonauts’ urine proteome comprehensively reflect the adaptive responses of cardiovascular, renal and neuroendocrine systems to long-duration microgravity conditions. The use of bioinformatics analysis to the reconstruction of protein-protein interaction networks and the identification of overrepresented Gene Ontology (GO) biological processes related to the cardiovascular system allowed us to establish relationships between proteomic data and physiological effects observed in cosmonauts after the flight. Hypotheses on the possible pathogenesis and etiological factors causing this adaptive response were suggested in this work.

Spaceflight (SF) conditions have a significant impact on the functioning of the human cardiovascular system. The endothelium plays an important role in the process of adaptation to SF factors. Therefore, the detection of biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction is necessary for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in changes caused by SFs. For this purpose, the blood plasma proteins of 18 Russian cosmonauts were used for quantitative analysis by liquid chromatography with a UPLC 1290 Infinity chromatograph coupled to an Agilent 6490 triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. It was found that a decrease in the circulating plasma volume during the flight followed by the activation of fluid retention at the final stage of flight contributed to the changes in plasma protein concentrations on the first day after landing. We observed a significant increase in the concentration of the S100A9 protein that plays an important role in endothelium functioning and angiogenesis and can serve as a marker of inflammatory reactions. On the first day after landing, the complement system and acute-phase protein concentrations tended to increase, which can adversely affect the functioning of the endothelium.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the regulatory and metabolic changes in the circulatory system when simulating microgravity conditions in a five-day dry immersion. These changes reflect the adaptation processes characteristic for the initial stages of a space flight or a short-duration space flight. Studies were conducted with 13 healthy male volunteers aged 21 to 29 years. The assessment of regulatory and metabolic processes in the circulatory system was based on the heart rate variability (HRV) and urine proteomic profile analysis. It was found that the restructuring of hemodynamics during 5 days hypogravity begins with the inclusion of the nervous circuit of regulation, and for manifestations at the body fluids protein composition level and activation of the metabolic regulation, these periods are apparently insufficient. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the metabolic regulation, being evolutionarily ancient and genetically determined, is more stable and requires more time for its pronounced activation when stimulated by extreme life conditions.