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Chen ZK, Liu YY, Zhou JC, Chen GH, Liu CF, Qu WM, Huang ZL. Insomnia-related rodent models in drug discovery. Acta Pharmacol Sin 2024; 45:1777-1792. [PMID: 38671193 PMCID: PMC11335876 DOI: 10.1038/s41401-024-01269-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Despite the widespread prevalence and important medical impact of insomnia, effective agents with few side effects are lacking in clinics. This is most likely due to relatively poor understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology of insomnia, and the lack of appropriate animal models for screening new compounds. As the main homeostatic, circadian, and neurochemical modulations of sleep remain essentially similar between humans and rodents, rodent models are often used to elucidate the mechanisms of insomnia and to develop novel therapeutic targets. In this article, we focus on several rodent models of insomnia induced by stress, diseases, drugs, disruption of the circadian clock, and other means such as genetic manipulation of specific neuronal activity, respectively, which could be used to screen for novel hypnotics. Moreover, important advantages and constraints of some animal models are discussed. Finally, this review highlights that the rodent models of insomnia may play a crucial role in novel drug development to optimize the management of insomnia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ze-Ka Chen
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science; Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep; and Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
- Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Yuan-Yuan Liu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science; Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep; and Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Ji-Chuan Zhou
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science; Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep; and Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Gui-Hai Chen
- Department of Neurology (Sleep Disorders), the Affiliated Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 238000, China
| | - Chun-Feng Liu
- Department of Neurology and Clinical Research Center of Neurological Disease, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, China.
| | - Wei-Min Qu
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science; Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep; and Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
| | - Zhi-Li Huang
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Basic Medical Sciences; State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institutes of Brain Science and Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science; Joint International Research Laboratory of Sleep; and Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
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Adkins AM, Colby EM, Kim WK, Wellman LL, Sanford LD. Stressor control and regional inflammatory responses in the brain: regulation by the basolateral amygdala. J Neuroinflammation 2023; 20:128. [PMID: 37244986 PMCID: PMC10225081 DOI: 10.1186/s12974-023-02813-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 05/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence has connected the development of certain neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as neurodegenerative diseases, to stress-induced dysregulation of the immune system. We have shown that escapable (ES) and inescapable (IS) footshock stress, and memories associated with ES or IS, can differentially alter inflammatory-related gene expression in brain in a region dependent manner. We have also demonstrated that the basolateral amygdala (BLA) regulates stress- and fear memory-induced alterations in sleep, and that differential sleep and immune responses in the brain to ES and IS appear to be integrated during fear conditioning and then reproduced by fear memory recall. In this study, we investigated the role of BLA in influencing regional inflammatory responses within the hippocampus (HPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) by optogenetically stimulating or inhibiting BLA in male C57BL/6 mice during footshock stress in our yoked shuttlebox paradigm based on ES and IS. Then, mice were immediately euthanized and RNA extracted from brain regions of interest and loaded into NanoString® Mouse Neuroinflammation Panels for compilation of gene expression profiles. Results showed differential regional effects in gene expression and activated pathways involved in inflammatory-related signaling following ES and IS, and these differences were altered depending on amygdalar excitation or inhibition. These findings demonstrate that the stress-induced immune response, or "parainflammation", is affected by stressor controllability and that BLA influences regional parainflammation to ES or IS in HPC and mPFC. The study illustrates how stress-induced parainflammation can be regulated at the neurocircuit level and suggests that this approach can be useful for uncovering circuit and immune interactions in mediating differential stress outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Austin M. Adkins
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
| | - Emily M. Colby
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
| | - Woong-Ki Kim
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, VA 23507 Norfolk, USA
| | - Laurie L. Wellman
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
| | - Larry D. Sanford
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
- Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, P.O. Box 1980, Norfolk, VA 23507 USA
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Adkins AM, Wellman LL, Sanford LD. Controllable and Uncontrollable Stress Differentially Impact Fear Conditioned Alterations in Sleep and Neuroimmune Signaling in Mice. Life (Basel) 2022; 12:1320. [PMID: 36143359 PMCID: PMC9506236 DOI: 10.3390/life12091320] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Revised: 08/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Stress induces neuroinflammation and disrupts sleep, which together can promote a number of stress-related disorders. Fear memories associated with stress can resurface and reproduce symptoms. Our previous studies have demonstrated sleep outcomes can be modified by stressor controllability following stress and fear memory recall. However, it is unknown how stressor controllability alters neuroinflammatory signaling and its association with sleep following fear memory recall. Mice were implanted with telemetry transmitters and experienced escapable or inescapable footshock and then were re-exposed to the shuttlebox context one week later. Gene expression was assessed with Nanostring® panels using RNA extracted from the basolateral amygdala and hippocampus. Freezing and temperature were examined as behavioral measures of fear. Increased sleep after escapable stress was associated with a down-regulation in neuro-inflammatory and neuro-degenerative related genes, while decreased sleep after inescapable stress was associated with an up-regulation in these genes. Behavioral measures of fear were virtually identical. Sleep and neuroimmune responses appear to be integrated during fear conditioning and reproduced by fear memory recall. The established roles of disrupted sleep and neuroinflammation in stress-related disorders indicate that these differences may serve as informative indices of how fear memory can lead to psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Larry D. Sanford
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Department of Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA 23507, USA
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Osorio-Forero A, Cherrad N, Banterle L, Fernandez LMJ, Lüthi A. When the Locus Coeruleus Speaks Up in Sleep: Recent Insights, Emerging Perspectives. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23095028. [PMID: 35563419 PMCID: PMC9099715 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23095028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
For decades, numerous seminal studies have built our understanding of the locus coeruleus (LC), the vertebrate brain’s principal noradrenergic system. Containing a numerically small but broadly efferent cell population, the LC provides brain-wide noradrenergic modulation that optimizes network function in the context of attentive and flexible interaction with the sensory environment. This review turns attention to the LC’s roles during sleep. We show that these roles go beyond down-scaled versions of the ones in wakefulness. Novel dynamic assessments of noradrenaline signaling and LC activity uncover a rich diversity of activity patterns that establish the LC as an integral portion of sleep regulation and function. The LC could be involved in beneficial functions for the sleeping brain, and even minute alterations in its functionality may prove quintessential in sleep disorders.
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The Basolateral Amygdala Mediates the Role of Rapid Eye Movement Sleep in Integrating Fear Memory Responses. Life (Basel) 2021; 12:life12010017. [PMID: 35054410 PMCID: PMC8781875 DOI: 10.3390/life12010017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 12/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The basolateral amygdala (BLA) mediates the effects of stress and fear on rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and on REM-related theta (θ) oscillatory activity in the electroencephalograph (EEG), which is implicated in fear memory consolidation. We used optogenetics to assess the potential role of BLA glutamate neurons (BLAGlu) in regulating behavioral, stress and sleep indices of fear memory, and their relationship to altered θ. An excitatory optogenetic construct targeting glutamatergic cells (AAV-CaMKIIα-hChR2-eYFP) was injected into the BLA of mice. Telemetry was used for real-time monitoring of EEG, activity, and body temperature to determine sleep states and stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH). For 3 h following shock training (ST: 20 footshocks, 0.5 mA, 0.5 s, 1 min interval), BLA was optogenetically stimulated only during REM (REM + L) or NREM (NREM + L). Mice were then re-exposed to the fear context at 24 h, 48 h, and 1 week after ST and assessed for behavior, SIH, sleep and θ activity. Control mice were infected with a construct without ChR2 (eYFP) and studied under the same conditions. REM + L significantly reduced freezing and facilitated immediate recovery of REM tested at 24 h and 48 h post-ST during contextual re-exposures, whereas NREM + L had no significant effect. REM + L significantly reduced post-ST REM-θ, but attenuated REM-θ reductions at 24 h compared to those found in NREM + L and control mice. Fear-conditioned SIH persisted regardless of treatment. The results demonstrate that BLAGlu activity during post-ST REM mediates the integration of behavioral and sleep indices of fear memory by processes that are associated with θ oscillations within the amygdalo-hippocampal pathway. They also demonstrate that fear memories can remain stressful (as indicated by SIH) even when fear conditioned behavior (freezing) and changes in sleep are attenuated.
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Machida M, Sweeten BLW, Adkins AM, Wellman LL, Sanford LD. Basolateral Amygdala Regulates EEG Theta-activity During Rapid Eye Movement Sleep. Neuroscience 2021; 468:176-185. [PMID: 34147563 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2021.06.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Revised: 06/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Pharmacological and optogenetic studies have demonstrated that the basolateral amygdala (BLA) plays a pivotal role in regulating fear-conditioned changes in sleep, in particular, rapid eye movement sleep (REM). However, the linkage between BLA and REM regulation has been minimally examined. In this study, we optogenetically activated or inhibited BLA selectively during spontaneous REM, and determined the effects on REM amounts and on hippocampus regulated EEG-theta (θ) activity. Excitatory (CaMKIIα-hChR2 (E123A)-eYFP-WPRE) or inhibitory (CaMKIIα-eNpHR3.0-eYFP-WPRE) optogenetic constructs were stereotaxically delivered targeting glutamatergic cells in BLA (BLAGlu) of mice. Viral constructs without opsin (CaMKIIα-eYFP-WPRE) were used as controls. All mice were implanted with telemetry transmitters for monitoring electroencephalography (EEG), activity, and body temperature, and with optic cannulas for light delivery to the BLA. BLAGlu were optogenetically activated by blue light (473 nm), or inhibited by green light (532 nm), in 10 s epochs during REM, or non-REM (NREM), in undisturbed mice. Sleep amounts and EEG activity were analyzed. Projections from BLAGlu to neurons in hippocampus were immunohistochemically (IHC) examined. Brief optogenetic activation of BLAGlu during REM immediately reduced EEG theta activity (5-8 Hz, REM-θ), without affecting overall amount and propensity of sleep, while optogenetic inhibition increased REM-θ. Stimulation during NREM had no effect on EEG spectra or sleep. IHC results showed that glutamatergic and GABAergic cells in CA3 of the hippocampus received inputs from BLAGlu projection neurons. Activation of BLAGlu reduced, and inhibition increased, REM-θ without otherwise altering sleep. Optogenetic stimulation of BLAGlu may be useful for systematically manipulating sleep-related amygdalo-hippocampal interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mayumi Machida
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA
| | - Brook L W Sweeten
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA
| | - Austin M Adkins
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA
| | - Laurie L Wellman
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA
| | - Larry D Sanford
- Sleep Research Laboratory, Center for Integrative Neuroscience and Inflammatory Diseases, Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA.
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Wu J, Liu D, Li J, Sun J, Huang Y, Zhang S, Gao S, Mei W. Central Neural Circuits Orchestrating Thermogenesis, Sleep-Wakefulness States and General Anesthesia States. Curr Neuropharmacol 2021; 20:223-253. [PMID: 33632102 PMCID: PMC9199556 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x19666210225152728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Great progress has been made in specifically identifying the central neural circuits (CNCs) of the core body temperature (Tcore), sleep-wakefulness states (SWs), and general anesthesia states (GAs), mainly utilizing optogenetic or chemogenetic manipulations. We summarize the neuronal populations and neural pathways of these three CNCs, which gives evidence for the orchestration within these three CNCs, and the integrative regulation of these three CNCs by different environmental light signals. We also outline some transient receptor potential (TRP) channels that function in the CNCs-Tcore and are modulated by some general anesthetics, which makes TRP channels possible targets for addressing the general-anesthetics-induced-hypothermia (GAIH). We suggest this review will provide new orientations for further consummating these CNCs and elucidating the central mechanisms of GAIH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiayi Wu
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030. China
| | - Daiqiang Liu
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030. China
| | - Jiayan Li
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030. China
| | - Jia Sun
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030. China
| | - Yujie Huang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030. China
| | - Shuang Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030. China
| | - Shaojie Gao
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030. China
| | - Wei Mei
- Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Jiefang Ave 1095, Wuhan 430030. China
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