Molecular Mechanisms of Sleep Homeostasis in Flies and Mammals
- 1Department of Neurobiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ilinois 60208
- 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53719
- 3Department of Neuroscience, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6058
- Correspondence: r-allada{at}northwestern.edu; ccirelli{at}wisc.edu; amita{at}mail.med.upenn.edu
Abstract
Sleep is homeostatically regulated with sleep pressure accumulating with the increasing duration of prior wakefulness. Yet, a clear understanding of the molecular components of the homeostat, as well as the molecular and cellular processes they sense and control to regulate sleep intensity and duration, remain a mystery. Here, we will discuss the cellular and molecular basis of sleep homeostasis, first focusing on the best homeostatic sleep marker in vertebrates, slow wave activity; second, moving to the molecular genetic analysis of sleep homeostasis in the fruit fly Drosophila; and, finally, discussing more systemic aspects of sleep homeostasis.
