Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND Sleep disturbances and mood alterations are highly interrelated. The majority of patients suffering from depression report a reduced sleep quality. Inversely, people with sleep complaints are at elevated risk to develop depression. The complex regulation of these phenomena involves several brain areas and mechanisms. The susceptibility to change in this system is influenced by several factors, such as age and stressful lifestyle that are considered in this study. HYPOTHESIS The hypothesis of this study was that sleep and mood share common genetic/molecular regulatory networks and that both are also regulated by epigenetic mechanisms and neural plasticity. METHODS The studies were conducted both on humans and using an animal model for depression. In the animal model we measured the genome wide expression of genes in different brain areas of clomipramine-treated pups and adults. Using these data we conducted both individual area and inter-area network analyses of basal forebrain, frontal cortex, hypothalamus and hippocampus. We also measured the amount of BDNF, one of the plasticity-related factors, in sleep restriction and under aging. In the human study we conducted epigenetic analysis of the serotonin transporter gene and related the epigenetic changes to stress in a stressful working environment. RESULTS In the models investigated changes were observed on the system, protein, transcript and transcriptional regulatory levels. Inter-tissue pathways related to synaptic transmission, regulation of translation and ubiquitinylation were disrupted. The involved pathways are within the cellular components of the axons, growth cones, melanosomes and pigment granules. The disturbed networks are centred around serotonin, Mn(II) and Rhoa. In the basal forebrain the imbalance in gene expression is widely controlled by CREB1. Some of the changes seem to be epigenetically induced by sleep deprivation and stress. Individuals working in a high stress environment have significantly less methylation in the promoter area of serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4, as compared to individuals working in a low stress environment. We also found that the expression of cortical BDNF correlated with the recovery non-REM (NREM) slow wave activity (SWA) response, and that both the cortical BDNF and the SWA response to sleep deprivation were decreased in the aged animals, as were the changes in sleep latency. CONCLUSIONS The disturbances in the models investigated, arise, largely, but not solely, due to disruption in neurological systems previously related to the regulation of sleep and mood. Novelty value could be ascribed to findings that suggest involvement of inter-tissue networks, and more precisely, imbalance of melanosome related gene expression and gene networks connected to Mn(II). The stress induced demethylation of the SLC6A4 promoter suggests a mechanism for the body to cope with prolonged excessive stress. The downside of this coping mechanism is the possibility that this reprogramming increases the long-term risk for mood disorders. The findings in the sleep deprived aging rats support the hypothesis that the age related decrease in homeostatic NREM SWA is related to a reduced sleep need.
Author: Markus Lagus
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1831870493