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Sleep deprivation not only makes you feel terrible, but research has shown that it also affects your brain. Long-term sleep deprivation increases the risk of acquiring neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's.
Researchers are attempting to determine how a lack of sleep causes this damage. A team employing mice uncovered a protective protein whose level falls with sleep deprivation resulting in neuronal death in a recent study published in the Journal of Proteome Research of the American Chemical Society. Studies indicate that lack ofsleepleads toneurologicaldamage in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in learning and memory. To better understand the changes responsible for this effect, scientists have begun examining shifts in the abundance ofproteins and RNA, which contains genetically encoded instructions derived from DNA. In this way, previous studies have identified some factors linkingsleeploss to damage; however, researchers havent generally confirmed they play a role in cognitive function within larger animal populations. So, Fuyi Xu, Jia Mi and their colleagues set out to further explore howsleeploss damages the brain and to corroborate their findings. To start off, the researchers evaluated how well mice navigated a simple maze and learned to recognize new objects after having beensleep-deprived for two days. They then extracted theproteins in the animals hippocampi and identified those whose abundance changed. Then, to further narrow the possibilities, they looked at data linking theseproteins to maze performance in related strains of mice that had not experiencedsleepdeprivation. This approach led the researchers to pleiotrophin (PTN), which declined in thesleep-deprived mice. Through an analysis of RNA, the team identified the molecular pathway by which a loss of PTN causes cells in the hippocampus to die. When they looked at genetic studies in humans, they found that PTN is implicated in Alzheimers and other neurodegenerative diseases. This research has uncovered a new mechanism by whichsleepprotects brain function, according to the researchers, who also note that PTN levels could serve as an indicator of cognitive impairment resulting from insomnia. (ANI)
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