Conservation of sleep: insights from non-mammalian model systems.
The past 10 years have seen new approaches to elucidating genetic pathways regulating sleep. The emerging theme is that sleep-like states are conserved in evolution, with similar signaling pathways playing a role in animals as distantly related as flies and humans. We review the evidence for the presence of sleep states in non-mammalian species including zebrafish (Danio rerio), fruitflies (Drosophila melanogaster) and roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans). We describe conserved sleep-regulatory molecular pathways with a focus on cAMP and epidermal growth factor signaling; neurotransmitters with conserved effects on sleep and wake regulation, including dopamine and GABA; and a conserved molecular response to sleep deprivation involving the chaperone protein BiP/GRP78.
Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 125 South 31st Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
John E
JE
Zimmerman
Nirinjini
N
Naidoo
David M
DM
Raizen
Allan I
AI
Pack
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D000091342:Endoplasmic Reticulum Chaperone BiP; D023421:Models, Animal; D010802:Phylogeny; D010828:Physiology, Comparative; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*