The hypocretins: setting the arousal threshold.
Over a short period in the late 1990s, three groups converged on the discovery of a neuropeptide system, centred in the dorsolateral hypothalamus, that regulates arousal states, influences feeding and is implicated in the sleep disorder narcolepsy. Subsequent studies have illuminated many aspects of the circuitry of the hypocretin (also called orexin) system, which also influences hormone secretion and autonomic homeostasis, and have led to the hypothesis that most human narcolepsies result from an autoimmune attack against the hypocretin-producing neurons. The biochemical, physiological and anatomical components that regulate the switch between waking and sleeping are becoming clear. The rapidity with which the hypocretin story has emerged is a testament to both the conceptual and the technical evolution of genomic science in the past two decades.
Sutcliffe
J Gregor
JG
Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. gregor@scripps.edu
de Lecea
Luis
L
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D064446:Orexin Receptors; D000068797:Orexins; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D018013:Receptors, Neuropeptide / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology
D002352:Carrier Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009479:Neuropeptides; D064446:Orexin Receptors; D000068797:Orexins; D043562:Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled; D018013:Receptors, Neuropeptide