Hypocretin-2 saporin lesions of the ventrolateral periaquaductal gray (vlPAG) increase REM sleep in hypocretin knockout mice.

ABSTRACT: Ten years ago the sleep disorder narcolepsy was linked to the neuropeptide hypocretin (HCRT), also known as orexin. This disorder is characterized by excessive day time sleepiness, inappropriate triggering of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep and cataplexy, which is a sudden loss of muscle tone during waking. It is still not known how HCRT regulates REM sleep or muscle tone since HCRT neurons are localized only in the lateral hypothalamus while REM sleep and muscle atonia are generated from the brainstem. To identify a potential neuronal circuit, the neurotoxin hypocretin-2-saporin (HCRT2-SAP) was used to lesion neurons in the ventral lateral periaquaductal gray (vlPAG). The first experiment utilized hypocretin knock-out (HCRT-ko) mice with the expectation that deletion of both HCRT and its t

SUBMITTER: Kaur S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2709920 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature