title: Brainstem and spinal cord circuitry regulating REM sleep and muscle atonia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous work has suggested, but not demonstrated directly, a critical role for both glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons of the pontine tegmentum in the regulation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To determine the in vivo roles of these fast-acting neurotransmitters in putative REM pontine circuits, we injected an adeno-associated viral vector expressing Cre recombinase (AAV-Cre) into mice harboring lox-P modified alleles of either the vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (VGLUT2) or vesicular GABA-glycine transporter (VGAT) genes. Our results show that glutamatergic neurons of the sublaterodorsal nucleus (SLD) and glycinergic/GABAergic interneurons of the spinal ventral horn contribute to REM atonia, whereas a separate population of glutamatergic neurons in the caudal laterodorsal tegmental nucleus (cLDT) and SLD are important for REM sleep generation. Our results further suggest that presynaptic GABA release in the cLDT-SLD, ventrolateral periaqueductal gray matter (vlPAG) and lateral pontine tegmentum (LPT) are not critically involved in REM sleep control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings reveal the critical and divergent in vivo role of pontine glutamate and spinal cord GABA/glycine in the regulation of REM sleep and atonia and suggest a possible etiological basis for REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD).
authors: Division of Sleep Medicine, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors: Martina
authors: M
authors: Krenzer
authors: Christelle
authors: C
authors: Anaclet
authors: Ramalingam
authors: R
authors: Vetrivelan
authors: Nishang
authors: N
authors: Wang
authors: Linh
authors: L
authors: Vong
authors: Bradford B
authors: BB
authors: Lowell
authors: Patrick M
authors: PM
authors: Fuller
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Lu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D059330:GABAergic Neurons; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D051379:Mice; D009123:Muscle Hypotonia / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D012895:Sleep, REM / Q000502:physiology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology*; D050599:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 2; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins
chemical_list: D050599:Vesicular Glutamate Transport Protein 2; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins; C493406:vesicular GABA transporter; D018698:Glutamic Acid