Research Symposium

BIO

My name is Jessa Maglio. I am a junior majoring in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. My passion for science, healthcare, and research stems from my analytical nature and desire to address the key health challenges within our communities. I currently work as a research assistant on an NIH-funded program focused on healthy aging and neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s Disease.

Arc1 functions in insulin producing cells to regulate sleep in Drosophila

Abstract

Neural regulation of sleep and metabolic homeostasis are critical in many aspects of human health. Despite extensive epidemiological evidence linking sleep dysregulation with obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, little is known about the neural and molecular basis for the integration of sleep and metabolic function. The gene Activity regulated cytoskeleton protein 1 (Arc1) has been linked to synaptic plasticity and metabolic function, which play crucial roles in sleep regulation and raise the possibility that it functions to control these processes. Here we characterize the effects of Arc1 on sleep duration. Flies lacking Arc1 significantly increase sleep duration by increasing the length of individual sleep episodes, raising the possibility that loss of Arc1 promotes deep sleep. The effects of Arc1 on sleep duration can be localized to neurons expressing the Drosophila insulin-like peptide (Dilp2), which has been previously implicated in the metabolic regulation of sleep depth. Silencing expression of Arc1 in these neurons significantly increases sleep duration, phenocopying Arc1 mutants, while overexpression of Arc1 significantly decreased sleep duration. We also find that Arc1 neurons are acutely required for increased sleep duration. A key hallmark of sleep depth in mammals and flies is a reduction in metabolic rate during sleep. We are currently investigating whether Arc1 functions in Dilp2-expressing neurons to regulate metabolic rate during sleep. Together, these findings will shed light on the role of Arc1 function in insulin-producing cells in sleep quality in Drosophila. Overall, this work contributes to our understanding of Arc1 function in the regulation of sleep.

Keywords: Aging, Neurodegeneration, Sleep, Biology