Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
Laura Glass
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
Viveca Sapin
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
Jae Engle
Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
Scott E Fraser
Department of Bioengineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States; Translational Imaging Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, United States
Sleep is an essential and phylogenetically conserved behavioral state, but it remains unclear to what extent genes identified in invertebrates also regulate vertebrate sleep. RFamide-related neuropeptides have been shown to promote invertebrate sleep, and here we report that the vertebrate hypothalamic RFamide neuropeptide VF (NPVF) regulates sleep in the zebrafish, a diurnal vertebrate. We found that NPVF signaling and npvf-expressing neurons are both necessary and sufficient to promote sleep, that mature peptides derived from the NPVF preproprotein promote sleep in a synergistic manner, and that stimulation of npvf-expressing neurons induces neuronal activity levels consistent with normal sleep. These results identify NPVF signaling and npvf-expressing neurons as a novel vertebrate sleep-promoting system and suggest that RFamide neuropeptides participate in an ancient and central aspect of sleep control.
