Gene Affecting the Ability to Sleep Discovered in Fruit Flies

A recent study has found a new gene, called insomniac, in fruit flies that helps to keep us asleep. Genes are important for sleep because they control what makes us tired and able to fall asleep.  The researchers at the Rockefeller Center cloned and tested this gene in fruit flies to see the effects of it on sleep. A genetic screening of 21,000 fruit flies was conducted by Nicholas Stavropoulos, Michael W. Young, and Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor and head of the Laboratory of Genetics. They used infrared beams detect when the flies fall asleep, and discovered that mutations in the insomniac gene corresponded with a dramatic reduction in sleep. A typical fruit fly sleeps for an average of 927 minutes a day, and the insomniac flies slept for 317 minutes each day. The time periods slept by the insomniac flies were also shorter than the normal flies, and they also woke up more frequently.

The researchers think that insomniac works by functions in protein degradation pathways in neurons through a complex called Cul3. If this is proven true, this would be the first time protein degradation will be linked to sleep. This study is relevant to humans because even though humans may not have much in common with the flies when it comes to lifestyle, the scientists say that their mechanisms for sleep and wakefulness are very similar. Stavropoulos says, "This work gives us several new clues about how sleep is controlled at the molecular level, and could prove useful in understanding and treating sleep disorders."

[caption id="attachment_5086" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A fruit fly's nervous system shows individual cells that express the insomniac gene in green. (Credit: Rockefeller University)"][/caption]