Automated sleep detection and deprivation in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaste

描述（由申请人提供）：在过去的七年中，黑腹果蝇或普通果蝇已被证明是探索睡眠遗传和蛋白质组学机制的无脊椎动物模型。虽然利用现有工具在果蝇睡眠研究领域取得了很大进展，但目前还没有专门设计用于准确观察、记录和分析果蝇睡眠（静止）时期的仪器。这一提议概述了一个明确设计用于检测果蝇少量运动的系统，因此，它比任何可用的系统都更准确地估计睡眠。结合这种检测装置，我们还建议设计一种机械化系统，能够通过完全可编程的计算机界面自动剥夺单个苍蝇的睡眠。这些具体目标的实现需要Pinnacle Technology和宾夕法尼亚大学世界知名的果蝇研究团队的共同努力。系统原型和初始设计将由Pinnacle Technology承担，而系统的测试和改进将由宾夕法尼亚大学的团队完成。这两个特征，检测微小运动和自动个体睡眠剥夺，结合和设计专门记录和自动分析果蝇的睡眠，将为果蝇研究人员探索睡眠的基本遗传学提供一个新的和强大的工具。该系统的技术创新将包括增强的视频识别软件，用单个低成本摄像机观察多达10只苍蝇的机制，以及基于自动分析有选择地剥夺单个苍蝇睡眠的技术。大型制药公司已经在寻求这种设备的商业应用，因为他们正在探索筛选改善睡眠的新化合物的新方法。公共卫生相关性：据估计，每年至少有4000万美国人患有慢性、长期睡眠障碍，另有2000万人偶尔出现睡眠问题。从经济角度来看，睡眠不足每年造成的医疗费用估计为160亿美元，而生产力损失和其他因素造成的间接成本要高得多。虽然睡眠不足与健康状况不佳和生产力低下之间的联系越来越清楚，但我们迫切需要了解睡眠的基本原因和生理需求。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Within the last seven years, Drosophila melanogaster or common fruit fly has been shown to be an invertebrate animal model for exploring genetic and proteomic mechanisms underlying sleep. While a great deal of progress has been made in the field of Drosophila sleep research using available tools, there currently exists no instrument designed specifically for the accurate observation, recording and analysis of sleep (immobility) periods in the fruit fly. This proposal outlines a system explicitly designed to detect small amounts of motion in Drosophila and, therefore, estimate sleep more accurately than any available system. In conjunction with this detection device, we also propose the design of a mechanized system capable of automatically sleep depriving individual flies through a fully-programmable computerized interface. Accomplishment of these specific aims will involve a collaborative effort between Pinnacle Technology and the world-renowned Drosophila research team at The University of Pennsylvania. System prototyping and initial design will be undertaken by Pinnacle Technology while testing and refinement of the system will be accomplished by the University of Pennsylvania team. These two features, detection of small movements and automated individual sleep deprivation, combined and designed specifically to record and automatically analyze sleep in the fly, will provide a new and powerful tool for Drosophila researchers to explore the basic genetics underlying sleep. Technological innovations of this system will include enhanced video recognition software, mechanisms to observe up to 10 flies with a single, low-cost video camera and the technology to selectively deprive individual flies of sleep based on automated analysis. Commercial applications of such a device are already being sought by major pharmaceutical companies as they explore new ways of screening new compounds for improved sleep. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: It is estimated that at least 40 million Americans suffer each year from chronic, long-term sleep disorders while an additional 20 million experience occasional sleeping problems. Economically, poor sleep accounts for an estimated $16 billion in medical costs each year and the indirect costs of lost productivity and other factors are known to be much higher. While the links between inadequate sleep and poor health and productivity are becoming more and more clear, there is a dire need to understand the basic causes and biological need for sleep.