{
  "id": 3104214,
  "title": "Nutritional Regulation of DN1a-Dh44 Signaling Modulates Sleep Across the Lifespan",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/nutritional-regulation-of-dn1a-dh44-signaling-modulates-sleep-across",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-24T00:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "bioRxiv",
    "slug": "biorxiv",
    "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.19.745756v1?rss=1"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Across various species, the amount and timing of sleep are intricately connected to an organism's dietary environment. Early life sleep and sleep in mature organisms both experience significant changes when the dietary environment is altered. However, the exact mechanisms by which nutritional cues influence the conserved sleep-regulatory circuitry remain unclear. To investigate this, a study examined the adaptability of sleep responses to varying nutrient environments throughout the lifespan using both early Drosophila larvae (L3) and adults.\n\nThe findings reveal that both L3 larvae and adults display variations in sleep duration when exposed to low sugar conditions. In particular, L3 larvae demonstrate a disruption of sleep-wake rhythms, which can be restored through the provision of additional nutrients. The study also highlights that larval and adult sleep plasticity is controlled by CCHamide-1 signaling between DN1a and Dh44 neurons, as well as glucose metabolic genes present in Dh44 neurons.\n\nMoreover, the data suggests that sleep plasticity is not reliant on anatomical and functional connectivity between clock-arousal circuitry. Instead, peptidergic signaling alone appears sufficient for diet-dependent sleep regulation. Furthermore, the research demonstrates that Dh44 neurons in both L3 larvae and adults modify the mRNA levels of CCHamide-1 receptor (CCHa1-R) in response to fluctuations in dietary sugar levels.\n\nIn summary, these findings indicate that organisms employ conserved molecular signaling pathways throughout their lifespan to dynamically regulate sleep in response to changing environments.",
  "summary": "Across species, sleep amount and timing are tightly linked to the nutritional environment. While early life sleep and sleep in mature organisms are both dramatically influenced by reductions in the dietary environment, the mechanisms linking nutritional cues to conserved sleep-regulatory circuitry are not well understood. Using both early 3rd instar (L3) Drosophila larvae and adults, we examined…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}