Aug 10, 2025
CAMbank: Urine Collection (v1)
- Eliah Overbey1,2,3,
- Jaume Puig3,
- Jeremy Wain Hirschberg2,
- JangKeun Kim2,3,
- Christopher Mason2,3
- 1University of Austin (UATX);
- 2Weill Cornell Medicine;
- 3BioAstra
Protocol Citation: Eliah Overbey, Jaume Puig, Jeremy Wain Hirschberg, JangKeun Kim, Christopher Mason 2025. CAMbank: Urine Collection (v1). protocols.io https://dx.doi.org/10.17504/protocols.io.4r3l217bjg1y/v1
Manuscript citation:
Overbey, E.G., Ryon, K., Kim, J. et al. Collection of biospecimens from the inspiration4 mission establishes the standards for the space omics and medical atlas (SOMA). Nat Commun 15, 4964 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-48806-z
License: This is an open access protocol distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protocol status: Working
We use this protocol and it's working
Created: August 10, 2025
Last Modified: August 22, 2025
Protocol Integer ID: 224419
Keywords: urine, spaceflight, astronaut, omics, biobanking, CAMbank, SOMA, standardized collection of urine sample, dry ice to the cornell aerospace medicine biobank, urine sample, zymo urine conditioning buffer, adding zymo urine conditioning buffer, urine collection, cornell aerospace medicine biobank, proteomic, conditioned urine, broad range of downstream assay, downstream assay, sterile specimen container, urine, untargeted metabolomic, including viral reactivation monitoring, hormone profiling, viral reactivation monitoring, metabolomic analysis, nucleic acid, crude urine, sample integrity across diverse storage, cambank, sample integrity
Abstract
This protocol describes the standardized collection of urine samples in both crude and nucleic acid–conditioned formats for molecular, biochemical, and metabolomic analyses. Participants void into sterile specimen containers, from which urine is processed within hours of collection. Two types of aliquots are prepared: (1) crude urine, stored directly at −80°C, and (2) conditioned urine, prepared by adding Zymo Urine Conditioning Buffer (UCB) prior to freezing to stabilize nucleic acids. Samples were aliquoted into 1 mL–15 mL tubes to minimize freeze–thaw cycles and shipped on dry ice to the Cornell Aerospace Medicine Biobank (CAMbank) for long-term storage at −80°C. This dual-format approach supports a broad range of downstream assays, including viral reactivation monitoring, hormone profiling (e.g., cortisol), mineral and electrolyte analysis, proteomics, telomere length measurement, and targeted or untargeted metabolomics. The method ensures sample integrity across diverse storage and transport conditions and aligns with the Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) initiative’s goal to standardize biospecimen handling for cross-mission comparability and astronaut health assessment.
Attachments
Materials
SAMCO Wide-Mouth Bio-Tite 120mL (13-711-56)
Zymo Research Urine Conditioning Buffer 140.0 mL (D3061-1-140)
ThermoFisher Matrix 2D Screw Tubes 1.0 mL (3741-WP1D-BR)
Sterile nitrile gloves
70% Ethanol in a spray bottle
VWR KimWipes
Cryogenic Freezer
Troubleshooting
Preparation
Verify that all necessary materials are available and urine cups are sterile-sealed.
Sample Collection (Research Subject)
Verify that the urine cup is sterile-sealed.
The research subject collects a urine sample using SAMCO Wide-Mouth Bio-Tite containers.
The research subject ensures that the urine cup is tightly sealed.
The research subject marks the following information:
Subject ID (ex: C###)
Date of Collection (MM-DD-YYYY)
Time of Collection (HH:MM AM:PM)
The research subject stores the urine at +4°C until sample handoff to the research team.
Sample Processing (Research Team)
The sample is tranfered to the research team.
Put on nitrile gloves to ensure sterile handling of the samples.
Verify that the collection tube is properly sealed and has not leaked.
Sterilize the outside of the container with 70% ethanol and wipe down with a KimWipe.
Shake the urine sample in the specimen container gently to mix and re-suspend particles that may have settled at the bottom of the container.
Working in a laminar flow hood, transfer half the urine to a conical tube.
Add Zymo Research Urine Conditioning Buffer to the collected samples according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Aliquot 1mL of conditioned urine into each of the ThermoFisher Matrix 2D Screw Tubes.
Collection timepoints with large urine volumes may be stored in 15mL conical tubes once 1mL aliquot racks are filled. Conical tubes must be assigned a unique identifier (which are already pre-labeled on the Matrix 2D tubes).
Repeat the aliquoting process for the crude urine (urine that did not receive the Zymo Urine Conditioning Buffer).
Storage
Place the collection tubes in a cryogenic freezer box.
Store at -80°C.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the WorldQuant Foundation, the WayPaver Foundation, and the following NASA grants: NNX14AH50G, NNX17AB26G, 80NSSC22K0254, NNH18ZTT001N-FG2, NNX16AO69A, and 80NSSC21K0316.