The Drosophila microRNA bantam regulates excitability in adult mushroom body output neurons to promote early night sleep.

ABSTRACT: Sleep circuitry evolved to have both dedicated and context-dependent modulatory elements. Identifying modulatory subcircuits and understanding their molecular machinery is a major challenge for the sleep field. Previously, we identified 25 sleep-regulating microRNAs in Drosophila melanogaster, including the developmentally important microRNA bantam. Here we show that bantam acts in the adult to promote early nighttime sleep through a population of glutamatergic neurons that is intimately involved in applying contextual information to behaviors, the γ5β'2a/β'2mp/β'2mp_bilateral Mushroom Body Output Neurons (MBONs). Calcium imaging revealed that bantam inhibits the activity of these cells during the early night, but not the day. Blocking synaptic transmission in these MB

SUBMITTER: Hobin M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9400086 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature