Commun Biol: Energy differences between sobriety and sleeping neurons in the lower cortical layer.

October 9, 2020 /--- the brain has an in vivo balance mechanism to prevent cellular energy depletion caused by the simultaneous activity of all cells.
, as animals' sleep-wake status changes, brain blood flow and glucose intake fluctuate with changes in cell activity in the brain.
these brain energy steady-state mechanisms, the state of cellular energy in the brain should be kept constant.
, however, this has not been experimentally proven.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) To study whether the state of cellular energy in the brains of living animals is constant or changing, researchers used fluorescent sensors to measure intracellular concentrations of the main cellular energy metabolite 5'-adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the brain.
using advanced microscopic techniques, they show changes in the whole cortical layer of cortical neuron cytocytoteal ATP levels that depend on the animal's sleep-awakening state: high ATP levels in sobriety and lower ATP levels during non-rapid eye movements.
significantly reduced during REM sleep.
, on the other hand, cerebral blood flow, a metabolic parameter of energy supply, increased slightly during non-rapid eye movement sleep and significantly during rapid eye movement sleep compared to waking state.
in mice with reduced atTP levels and increased hemodynamics in response to general anaesthetic and activation of local EE stimulating neurons.
increase in the level of neuron ATP throughout the cortological state, indicating that this is the time when the cell's energy needs increase.
At the same time, although the brain's hemodynamics increase at the same time, the level of neuron ATP during fast eye movement sleep is significantly lower, indicating a negative balance of energy in neurons, possibly due to the fact that rapid eye movement sleep specifically promotes energy-consuming activities such as heat generation.
significant reduction in ATP levels in cortical neurons during REM sleep is expected to be used as a new biomarker for REM sleep.
, better than brain energy metabolism may not always meet the energy needs of neurons, resulting in physiological fluctuations in intracellular ATP levels in neurons.
(bioon.com) Source: Cortex-wide variation of neuronal cellular energy levels: Akiyo Natsubori et al, Intracellular ATP levels in mouse cortical excitatory neurons varies with sleep-wake states, Communications Biology (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01215-6.