Lethargus is a Caenorhabditis elegans sleep-like state
Lethargus is a Caenorhabditis elegans sleep-like state
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DOI：
10.1038/nature06535
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发表时间：
2008-01-31
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
Pack, Allan I.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Raizen, David M.;Zimmerman, John E.;Pack, Allan I.
哺乳动物的睡眠和节肢动物黑腹果蝇的静止有基本的相似之处，这表明类似睡眠的状态在进化上是古老的（1-3）。秀丽隐杆线虫在四次换毛前的一段时间内也有一种静止的行为状态(4)。与睡眠一样，嗜睡与秀丽隐杆线虫周期同源物LIN-42的表达保持恒定的时间关系（参考文献5）。在这里，我们发现与嗜睡相关的静止具有可逆性、反应性降低和体内平衡的额外睡眠样特性。我们发现cgmp依赖性蛋白激酶（PKG）基因egl- 4是类睡眠行为的调节因子，并表明egl- 4在感觉神经元中起作用，促进秀丽隐杆线虫的类睡眠状态。秀丽隐杆线虫和果蝇同源基因对类睡眠行为的保守影响表明节肢动物和线虫类类睡眠状态有共同的遗传调控。我们的结果表明秀丽隐杆线虫是研究睡眠调节的合适模型系统。秀丽隐杆线虫的这种睡眠状态与幼虫蜕皮过程中发生的发育变化之间的联系表明，睡眠可能是为了适应发育变化而进化的。
There are fundamental similarities between sleep in mammals and quiescence in the arthropod Drosophila melanogaster, suggesting that sleep- like states are evolutionarily ancient(1-3). The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans also has a quiescent behavioural state during a period called lethargus, which occurs before each of the four moults(4). Like sleep, lethargus maintains a constant temporal relationship with the expression of the C. elegans Period homologue LIN-42 ( ref. 5). Here we show that quiescence associated with lethargus has the additional sleep- like properties of reversibility, reduced responsiveness and homeostasis. We identify the cGMP-dependent protein kinase ( PKG) gene egl- 4 as a regulator of sleep-like behaviour, and show that egl- 4 functions in sensory neurons to promote the C. elegans sleep- like state. Conserved effects on sleep- like behaviour of homologous genes in C. elegans and Drosophila suggest a common genetic regulation of sleep- like states in arthropods and nematodes. Our results indicate that C. elegans is a suitable model system for the study of sleep regulation. The association of this C. elegans sleep- like state with developmental changes that occur with larval moults suggests that sleep may have evolved to allow for developmental changes.