The preproghrelin gene is required for the normal integration of thermoregulation and sleep in mice.
Peptidergic mechanisms controlling feeding, metabolism, thermoregulation, and sleep overlap in the hypothalamus. Low ambient temperatures and food restriction induce hypothermic (torpor) bouts and characteristic metabolic and sleep changes in mice. We report that mice lacking the preproghrelin gene, but not those lacking the ghrelin receptor, have impaired abilities to manifest and integrate normal sleep and thermoregulatory responses to metabolic challenges. In response to fasting at 17 degrees C (a subthermoneutral ambient temperature), preproghrelin knockout mice enter hypothermic bouts associated with reduced sleep, culminating in a marked drop in body temperature to near-ambient levels. Prior treatment with obestatin, another preproghrelin gene product, attenuates the hypothermic response of preproghrelin knockout mice. Results suggest that obestatin is a component in the coordinated regulation of metabolism and sleep during torpor.
Szentirmai
Eva
E
Sleep and Performance Research Center, Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology, and Physiology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. eszentirmai@wsu.edu
Kapás
Levente
L
Sun
Yuxiang
Y
Smith
Roy G
RG
Krueger
James M
JM
D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D005334:Fever / Q000473:pathology; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006605:Hibernation; D007035:Hypothermia; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008954:Models, Biological; D012890:Sleep; D013696:Temperature
D054439:Ghrelin