Choi Ashley, Smith Jennifer, Wang Yingqi, Shin Hyunsoo, Kim Bowon, Wiest Alyssa, Jin Xi, An Isabella, Hong Jiso, Antila Hanna, Thomas Steven, Bhattarai Janardhan P, Beier Kevin, Ma Minghong, Weber Franz, Chung Shinjae
Department of Neuroscience, Chronobiology and Sleep Institute, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Department of Pharmacology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Res Sq. 2024 Mar 14:rs.3.rs-3877710. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3877710/v1.
Sleep disturbances are prevalent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and have a major impact on the quality of life. Strikingly, sleep problems are positively correlated with the severity of ASD symptoms, such as memory impairment. However, the neural mechanisms underlying sleep disturbances and cognitive deficits in ASD are largely unexplored. Here, we show that non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREMs) is highly fragmented in the 16p11.2 deletion mouse model of ASD. The degree of sleep fragmentation is reflected in an increased number of calcium transients in the activity of locus coeruleus noradrenergic (LC-NE) neurons during NREMs. Exposure to a novel environment further exacerbates sleep disturbances in 16p11.2 deletion mice by fragmenting NREMs and decreasing rapid eye movement sleep (REMs). In contrast, optogenetic inhibition of LC-NE neurons and pharmacological blockade of noradrenergic transmission using clonidine reverse sleep fragmentation. Furthermore, inhibiting LC-NE neurons restores memory. Rabies-mediated unbiased screening of presynaptic neurons reveals altered connectivity of LC-NE neurons with sleep- and memory regulatory brain regions in 16p11.2 deletion mice. Our findings demonstrate that heightened activity of LC-NE neurons and altered brain-wide connectivity underlies sleep fragmentation in 16p11.2 deletion mice and identify a crucial role of the LC-NE system in regulating sleep stability and memory in ASD.
睡眠障碍在自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)儿童中很普遍,对生活质量有重大影响。引人注目的是,睡眠问题与ASD症状的严重程度呈正相关,如记忆障碍。然而,ASD中睡眠障碍和认知缺陷的神经机制在很大程度上尚未得到探索。在这里,我们表明,在ASD的16p11.2缺失小鼠模型中,非快速眼动睡眠(NREMs)高度碎片化。睡眠碎片化程度反映在NREMs期间蓝斑去甲肾上腺素能(LC-NE)神经元活动中钙瞬变数量的增加。暴露于新环境会通过使NREMs碎片化和减少快速眼动睡眠(REMs)进一步加剧16p11.2缺失小鼠的睡眠障碍。相比之下,对LC-NE神经元的光遗传学抑制和使用可乐定对去甲肾上腺素能传递的药理学阻断可逆转睡眠碎片化。此外,抑制LC-NE神经元可恢复记忆。狂犬病介导的对突触前神经元的无偏筛选揭示了16p11.2缺失小鼠中LC-NE神经元与睡眠和记忆调节脑区的连接性改变。我们的研究结果表明,LC-NE神经元的活动增强和全脑连接性改变是16p11.2缺失小鼠睡眠碎片化的基础,并确定了LC-NE系统在调节ASD睡眠稳定性和记忆中的关键作用。