A Drosophila Model of Sleep Restriction Therapy for Insomnia and Neurodegenerative Disease
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2019 A Drosophila Model Of Sleep Restriction Therapy For Insomnia And Neurodegenerative Disease Samuel Belfer University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons Recommended Citation Belfer, Samuel, "A Drosophila Model Of Sleep Restriction Therapy For Insomnia And Neurodegenerative Disease" (2019). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 3583. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3583 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3583 For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Drosophila Model Of Sleep Restriction Therapy For Insomnia And Neurodegenerative Disease Abstract Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder among adults, especially affecting individuals of advanced age or with neurodegenerative disease. Humans with insomnia often expand the amount of time they spend in bed in an attempt to compensate for inability to sleep. However, this mismatch of time in bed (high) with sleep ability (low) perpetuates insomnia symptoms. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line insomnia treatment. Sleep restriction – a key component of CBT-I – addresses mismatch between sleep opportunity and ability by restricting time in bed to an amount equal to average sleep ability, leading to enhanced sleep drive and consolidation. Though effective, limited accessibility of practitioners and long duration of therapy are barriers to broad implementation of CBT-I. Deciphering a molecular basis for this behavioral therapy has potential to open new treatment avenues. In Chapter 1, I discuss the utility of modeling insomnia, behavioral therapy, and neurodegenerative disease in Drosophila. In Chapter 2, we develop a Drosophila model for sleep restriction therapy (SRT). We find that restriction of sleep opportunity through manipulation of environmental cues improves sleep efficiency and continuity in multiple short-sleeping Drosophila mutants. We apply SRT to a Drosophila model of Alzheimer’s disease, in which Aβ accumulation causes decreased and fragmented sleep, and demonstrated that sleep restriction reverses these sleep deficits, with associated extension in lifespan. In Chapter 3, we expand our search for fly models of human neurodegenerative disease associated with short-sleeping phenotypes. We find that overexpression of human TDP-43, the protein deposited in intracellular inclusions in ALS and FTD, cause profound sleep disturbances that can be rescued by SRT. TDP-43 flies also exhibit increased arousal threshold and extended longevity with SRT, suggesting deeper sleep with sleep opportunity restriction confers health benefits. In Chapter 4, I discuss ongoing work investigating the intracellular localization of TDP-43, and how improved sleep might mediate toxicity of this protein. Finally, I discuss use of this model to identify molecular signals mediating the response to sleep restriction therapy. These findings have important implications for our understanding of behavioral sleep therapy and its potential as a therapeutic intervention for neurodegenerative disease. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Neuroscience First Advisor Matthew S. Kayser Keywords Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, Drosophila, Insomnia, Neurodegeneration, Sleep Restriction Subject Categories Neuroscience and Neurobiology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/3583 A DROSOPHILA MODEL OF SLEEP RESTRICTION THERAPY FOR INSOMNIA AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE Samuel J. Belfer A DISSERTATION in NeurosCienCe Presented to the FaCulties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 Supervisor of Dissertation _________________________ Matthew S. Kayser, MD, PhD Assistant Professor of PsyChiatry Graduate Group Chairperson _________________________ Joshua Gold, PhD Professor of NeurosCience Dissertation Committee David M. Raizen, MD, PhD – AssoCiate Professor of Neurology Philip Gehrman, PhD, CBSM – Assistant Professor of PsyChiatry F. Bradley Johnson, MD, PhD – Professor of Pathology and Laboratory MediCine Kyunghee Koh, PhD – AssoCiate Professor of NeurosCienCe, Jefferson University Dedication This dissertation is dediCated to my Zayde, Sheldon Belfer, who would have loved nothing more than reading it. He would have done so with a pen in hand to make sure he Could write notes in the margins, and clipped articles from the New York Post and Daily News for months about anything that reminded him of the topics discussed herein. ונורכיז הכרבל ונורכיז ii Acknowledgments Completion of this work would not have been possible without the endless dediCation of my advisor, Dr. Matthew Kayser. You have an unbelievable way of fostering exCitement when the sCience gets interesting, and motivating through diffiCulty when it seems like everything is going sideways. I am indebted to you for your passion and patience, and reminding me to laugh all the while. Your lab is truly an extension of your family, and we all feel that closeness and colleCtive drive to suCCeed. Thank you for making me a better scientist and giving me an amazing role model of what great mentorship looks like. To the members of the Kayser Lab – Dave, Milán, Emilia, Christine, Jackie, Amy, Leela, Natalie, Ben, Charlette, Zander, Austin, Anyara, LuCy, and JaCkie – thanks for making these PhD years so muCh fun. I always look forward to Coming to lab in the morning, not being able to imagine what we might talk about. Collaborating and debating ideas has Challenged me at every turn. Thank you. I would like to thank the members of my thesis Committee, David Raizen, Phil Gehrman, Brad Johnson, and Kyunghee Koh for their guidanCe and support throughout this journey. In partiCular, I thank David for aCting as an invaluable mentor since I joined his lab as an undergraduate in 2010. Thank you for giving me my scientific start, and inspiring in me an undying love for sleep and model organisms. To my parents, Mindy and RiCh – the foundation of hard work and the value of eduCation that you raised us with has somehow, 29 years later, gotten me to this day. Thank you for always fostering my love for science, encouraging me to experience science in camps and specialized high schools, and by always being willing to turn our house into a greenhouse for tomato plant grafting experiments if that’s what was necessary. Thank you for always being there to listen, and for always reminding me of what is possible. To Allie – as the first doctor in the family, I expect you know most of what’s written here already. To Jeremy – if you are still reading this far into the dissertation, Consider me impressed. Thank you both for the laughs and the finger-letter N’s to get me to this point. iii To RaChel – even when you met me as a 23-year-old mediCal student, you (of Course) were able to see this day Clearly. Thank you for always being the patient one, the wise one, but not the numerate one, and keeping me grounded and focused on what was next. Your attention to every detail of our lives has enabled me to work the long days and long nights I needed to get this all done. You know just how to motivate me to be better, and everything I have acComplished in the last 5 years is a direct result of knowing you were always by my side. Now onto the next step of our journey together. I love you. To Izzy – You are the best gift that these PhD years Could have ever given me. I swear that I'll be around for you/ I'll do whatever it takes/ I'll make a million mistakes/ I'll make the world safe and sound for you. This is all for you, sweetheart. Helping Abba finish his dissertation. iv ABSTRACT A DROSOPHILA MODEL OF SLEEP RESTRICTION THERAPY FOR INSOMNIA AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE Samuel J. Belfer Matthew S. Kayser Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder among adults, espeCially affeCting individuals of advanCed age or with neurodegenerative disease. Humans with insomnia often expand the amount of time they spend in bed in an attempt to compensate for inability to sleep. However, this mismatCh of time in bed (high) with sleep ability (low) perpetuates insomnia symptoms. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line insomnia treatment. Sleep restriCtion – a key component of CBT-I – addresses mismatch between sleep opportunity and ability by restricting time in bed to an amount equal to average sleep ability, leading to enhanced sleep drive and consolidation. Though effeCtive, limited aCCessibility of praCtitioners and long duration of therapy are barriers to broad implementation of CBT-I. DeCiphering a moleCular basis for this behavioral therapy has potential to open new treatment avenues. In Chapter 1, I discuss the utility of modeling insomnia, behavioral therapy, and neurodegenerative disease in Drosophila. In Chapter 2, we develop a Drosophila model for sleep restriCtion therapy (SRT). We find that restriCtion of sleep opportunity through manipulation of environmental cues improves sleep efficiency and continuity in multiple short-sleeping Drosophila mutants. We apply SRT to a Drosophila model of Alzheimer’s disease, in whiCh Aβ aCCumulation Causes deCreased and fragmented sleep, and demonstrated that sleep restriction reverses these sleep deficits, with assoCiated extension in