动物实验 z-bo 2020-09-28 357

　　Neuron is a sub-issue of the internationally renowned academic journal Cell. It has published a protein online, which was discovered by Alexander F. Sie, a researcher at Harvard University, and David A. Prober, a researcher at California Institute of Technology. (Nmu) Neurochemicals can stimulate arousal. Researchers overexpress 1,000 different human genes in zebrafish larvae at a time to study their effects on the sleep/wake cycle. Zebrafish are designed to increase the expression of human genes when placed in warm water at 37°C. This allows the research team to switch on genes at any time and track changes in animal sleep patterns. when

　　When Prober and his colleagues turned on the human version of the Nmu gene, the zebrafish became more active. Later, the researchers overexpressed the zebrafish version of Nmu, which also caused hyperactivity and insomnia. Prober said: "After turning on gene expression, I can hardly fall asleep." On the other hand, when the research team mutated the zebrafish's Nmu gene to prevent protein expression, its larvae were weaker. active. Adult mutant fish also generally slow down when they are active and alert, especially at dawn. Mr. Prob said: “This shows that Nmu is particularly important for facilitating the transition from night sleep to daytime awakening. Nmu can be considered as a natural alarm clock for waking up in the morning.”

　　He said: Little is known about the causes of insomnia. The highly active Nmu pathway is likely to be the cause of this situation, but to verify this idea, future human research is needed. "