Recent studies have identified the Drosophila brain circuits involved in the sleep/wake switch and have pointed to the modulation of neuronal excitability as one of the underlying mechanisms triggering sleep need. In this study we aimed to explore the link between the homeostatic regulation of neuronal excitability and sleep behavior in the circadian circuit. For this purpose, we selected Pumilio (Pum), whose main function is to repress protein translation and has been linked to modulation of neuronal excitability during chronic patterns of altered neuronal activity. Here we explore the effects of Pum on sleep homeostasis in Drosophila melanogaster, which shares most of the major features of mammalian sleep homeostasis. Our evidence indicates that Pum is necessary for sleep rebound and that its effect is more pronounced during chronic sleep deprivation (84 h) than acute deprivation (12 h). Knockdown of pum, results in a reduction of sleep rebound during acute sleep deprivation and the complete abolishment of sleep rebound during chronic sleep deprivation. Based on these findings, we propose that Pum is a critical regulator of sleep homeostasis through neural adaptations triggered during sleep deprivation.

中文翻译：

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Pumilio 调节睡眠稳态以应对黑腹果蝇的慢性睡眠剥夺

最近的研究已经确定了参与睡眠/觉醒转换的果蝇大脑回路，并指出神经元兴奋性的调节是触发睡眠需求的潜在机制之一。在这项研究中，我们旨在探索神经元兴奋性的稳态调节与昼夜节律回路中的睡眠行为之间的联系。为此，我们选择了 Pumilio (Pum)，其主要功能是抑制蛋白质翻译，并且与神经元活动改变的慢性模式期间神经元兴奋性的调节有关。在这里，我们探讨了 Pum 对黑腹果蝇睡眠稳态的影响，它具有哺乳动物睡眠稳态的大部分主要特征。我们的证据表明，Pum 是睡眠反弹所必需的，并且在慢性睡眠剥夺（84 小时）期间其效果比急性剥夺（12 小时）更明显。击倒 pum 会导致急性睡眠剥夺期间的睡眠反弹减少，并完全消除慢性睡眠剥夺期间的睡眠反弹。基于这些发现，我们提出 Pum 是睡眠剥夺期间触发的神经适应的睡眠稳态的关键调节器。