Accumulation of stress protein 72 (HSP72) in muscle and spleen of goldfish taken into space.

Using Western blot analysis, here, we report the levels of HSP72 in several organs from goldfish which were taken into space on the NASA space shuttle. A remarkable accumulation of HSP72 was detected in muscle and spleen of those fish taken into space as compared with controls. These results suggested that the HSP72 induction is a kind of stress response at the molecular level introduced by the space environment consisting of microgravity and/or cosmic radiation as stressors.