Everyone has the experience of feeling sleepier than usual on days when they are tired from exercising or working hard.Researchers at the University of Tsukuba and the University of Tokyo have discovered the mechanism behind why physical fatigue leads to drowsiness.
For the research, we used nematodes, which have a simple body structure but share sleep-regulating genes with mammals.Among approximately 6000 randomly mutated C. elegans, we found individuals with unusual (longer) sleep times and identified the causative gene as sel-11.Inhibition of the sel-11 homologue also increased sleep in mice, suggesting that sel-XNUMX is involved in a similar sleep regulation mechanism in mammals.
sel-11 is involved in a mechanism that maintains normal cell function by degrading defective proteins in the intracellular endoplasmic reticulum (endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation).The research team further investigated the relationship between endoplasmic reticulum-related degradation and sleep. It was found that a protein called eIF2α acts on the brain and promotes sleep.
In other words, it was clarified that endoplasmic reticulum stress, which is known to increase due to sleep deprivation, fatigue, disease, etc., triggers sleep, and that a mechanism that connects the tired body and sleep works to eliminate this trigger.
The results of this research are expected to be applied to new methods of controlling drowsiness and effective recovery from fatigue. It is also related to the decline in sleep with aging, and it is expected that it will lead to the elucidation of the causes of sleep disorders caused by these diseases and aging and the development of treatment methods.
Paper information:[Cell Reports] ER proteostasis regulators cell-non-autonomously control sleep
