When You Sleep and Wake Up is

Controlled by a Single Gene

This research could lead to a cure for jet-
lag and other sleep problems.
Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological
Studies have found that a single gene regulates
daily sleeping and waking cycles (Hatori et al.,
2014).
Understanding the function of the gene, called
Lhx1, may help to create therapies for jet-lagged
travellers, night-shift workers and those with
problems sleeping.
Satchidananda Panda, who led the research, says
that even dementias may be helped by potential
therapies:
Its possible that the severity of many dementias
comes from sleep disturbances.
If we can restore normal sleep, we can address
half of the problem.
The study examined the sleep and wake cycles of
mice, concentrating on an area of the brain called
the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or the SCN.
The SCN is a densely packed region of around
20,000 neurons in the hypothalamus, which
establish our daily biological rhythms.
Sometimes known as the master clock, the SCN
effectively tells every cell in the body what time it
is.
Our internal clock is reset by light, which is why we
tend to suffer from jet lag: our daily biological
cycles get scrambled.
The researchers in this study effectively gave jet
lag to the mice by shifting their usual day-night
cycle by 8 hours.
They then looked at the expression of 213 genes
and were surprised to find that just one was
suppressed in response to light, T
The finding was a particular surprise because
previously the gene had never been intricately
linked with SCN function.
They found that mice that had little or no Lhx1
were able to adjust to the jet-lag much faster than
other mice.
The scientists hope that this brings them one step
closer to new cell regenerative therapies for sleep
problems.