DBT affects sleep in both circadian and non-circadian neurons

Large-language models facilitate discovery of the molecular signatures regulating sleep and activity

Sleep, locomotor and social activities are essential animal behaviors, but their reciprocal relationships and underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we elicit information from a cutting-edge large-language model (LLM), generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) 3.5, which interprets 10.2-13.8% of Drosophila genes known to regulate the 3 behaviors. We develop an instrument for simultaneous video tracking of multiple moving objects, and conduct a genome-wide screen. We have identified 758 fly genes that regulate sleep and activities, including mre11 which regulates sleep only in the presence of conspecifics, and NELF-B which regulates sleep regardless of whether conspecifics are present. Based on LLM-reasoning, an educated signal web is modeled for understanding of potential relationships between its components, presenting comprehensive molecular signatures that control sleep, locomotor and social activities. This LLM-aided strategy may also be helpful for addressing other complex scientific questions.

Mutation of the Drosophila melanogaster serotonin transporter dSERT impacts sleep, courtship, and feeding behaviors

The Serotonin Transporter (SERT) regulates extracellular serotonin levels and is the target of most current drugs used to treat depression. The mechanisms by which inhibition of SERT activity influences behavior are poorly understood. To address this question in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster, we developed new loss of function mutations in Drosophila SERT (dSERT). Previous studies in both flies and mammals have implicated serotonin as an important neuromodulator of sleep, and our newly generated dSERT mutants show an increase in total sleep and altered sleep architecture that is mimicked by feeding the SSRI citalopram. Differences in daytime versus nighttime sleep architecture as well as genetic rescue experiments unexpectedly suggest that distinct serotonergic circuits may modulate daytime versus nighttime sleep. dSERT mutants also show defects in copulation and food intake, akin to the clinical side effects of SSRIs and consistent with the pleomorphic influence of serotonin on the behavior of D. melanogaster. Starvation did not overcome the sleep drive in the mutants and in male dSERT mutants, the drive to mate also failed to overcome sleep drive. dSERT may be used to further explore the mechanisms by which serotonin regulates sleep and its interplay with other complex behaviors.

Molecular subtypes based on cuproptosis regulators and immune infiltration in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma

Copper toxicity involves the destruction of mitochondrial metabolic enzymes, triggering an unusual mechanism of cell death called cuproptosis, which proposes a novel approach using copper toxicity to treat cancer. However, the biological function of cuproptosis has not been fully elucidated in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma (KIRC). Using the expression profile of 13 cuproptosis regulators, we first identified two molecular subtypes related to cuproptosis defined as “hot tumor” and “cold tumor”, having different levels of biological function, clinical prognosis, and immune cell infiltration. We obtained three gene clusters using the differentially expressed genes between the two cuproptosis-related subtypes, which were associated with different molecular activities and clinical characteristics. Next, we developed and validated a cuproptosis prognostic model that included two genes (FDX1 and DBT). The calculated risk score could divide patients into high- and low-risk groups. The high-risk group had a poorer prognosis, lower level of immune infiltration, higher frequency of gene alterations, and greater levels of FDX1 methylation and limited DBT methylation. The risk score was also an independent predictive factor for overall survival in KIRC. The established nomogram calculating the risk score achieved a high predictive ability for the prognosis of individual patients (area under the curve: 0.860). We then identified small molecular inhibitors as potential treatments and analyzed the sensitivity to chemotherapy of the signature genes. Tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) showed that the high-risk group had a higher level of TIDE, exclusion and dysfunction that was lower than the low-risk group, while the microsatellite instability of the high-risk group was significantly lower. The results of two independent immunotherapy datasets indicated that cuproptosis regulators could influence the response and efficacy of immunotherapy in KIRC. Our study provides new insights for individualized and comprehensive therapy of KIRC.