The genetic and molecular regulation of sleep: from fruit flies to humans

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Abstract
There are many sleep phenotypes, which reflect the duration and intensity of sleep, as well as its circadian and homeostatic regulation. In flies, mice and humans, at least ten genes have either been linked to a human sleep disorder or have been shown to strongly affect sleep. Genes affecting sleep belong to four major functional categories: circadian regulation, neurotransmission, other signalling pathways and ion channels. Mutations in voltage-dependent potassium channels produce some of the most striking sleep phenotypes described so far in both flies and mammals. Sleep and waking affect the expression of hundreds of brain transcripts. mRNAs with higher expression during waking are related to energy metabolism, cellular stress and synaptic potentiation, suggesting that sleep might serve to maintain synaptic homeostasis by downscaling synapses strengthened during waking.