S-013 | From DNA damage to sleep, exploring novel relationships in Drosophila

Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
Author: Emiliano Kalesnik Vissio | Email: ekalesnikvissio@ibioba-mpsp-conicet.gov.ar

Emiliano Kalesnik-Vissio^1°, Canela Pedreira-González^1°, Agustina Bruno-Vignolo^1°,  Ivana Ducrey^1°, Pedro Ballestero^1°, Marina Propato-Lots, Luis de Lecea^2°,  Nara I. Muraro^1°

^1° Biomedicine Research Institute of Buenos Aires-CONICET-Partner Institute of the Max Planck Society. Godoy Cruz 2390, C1425FQD, Buenos Aires, Argentina
^2° Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medicine. 291 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305. United States of America.

Why do animals across the animal kingdom sleep? This question is still one of the great mysteries of biology and, although many theories have been proposed, it has not yet been possible to reliably contrast them. Various theories suggest that synaptic homeostasis and the clearance of metabolites and reactive oxygen species are important functions of the rest cycles and drivers of sleep homeostasis. Interestingly, a new significant body of evidence converges on the notion that repairing DNA damage accumulated during wakefulness is a crucial function of sleep. These intriguing findings raise multiple key questions: Is this cellular function evolutionarily conserved from flies to mammals? How DNA repair, a cellular mechanism, translate into an increase in sleep drive? Are canonical arousal/sleep centers involved? Which populations of neurons are responsible for sleep induction by DNA breakage? Are populations more important than others in this regard? Drosophila melanogaster is the perfect model organism to answer these questions and elucidate the evolutionarily conserved cellular substrates and mechanisms that link DNA repair processes to sleep behavior. We will present preliminary results of a thermogenetic screen that will help us answer these important biological questions. To achieve our goals we will utilize different technics, including sleep behavior analysis, western blotting and immunofluorescence, to detect DNA damage in the brains of Drosophila.